My Enemy's Enemy
by Fruit bat99
Summary: When Vlad witnesses Danny's not-too-distant demise, he has to make some very important decisions to save the young hybrid from his bleak future. But how far will he go to help his arch nemesis in his time of need? Will the two rivals ultimately be able to put aside their differences to defeat a far greater evil? Or is all hope lost for our young hero?
1. Prologue

**Author's Note**

Hi everyone, thanks for taking your time to read my first attempt at a story! I've never quite felt brave enough to publish anything before but have now decided what the heck?!

I have spent quite a lot of time reading and being inspired by other people's stories on here and thought that I'd quite like a go, so here is that 'go' I guess! Hope it's not too shabby :P.

And with further ado, I hope you enjoy the (shortish) prologue! Let me know what you think!

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He knew he couldn't keep him locked up forever. What he didn't know was when he would escape. As he looked out the elegant window, he scoffed at the irony of it all. The master of time didn't know when something would happen. Of course, looking back, agreeing to be responsible for a being that existed outside of time was a bad idea. If one studied close enough, an emotion close to that of regret ghosted across the time master's face, though it was quickly hidden again under his emotionless mask as his musings were interrupted.

Clockwork was used to the interference of his employers. In fact, they regularly checked up on him for some unknown reason, much to the annoyance of the time master. Today, however, he knew exactly what their visit would be about.. and he was not looking forward to it.

"Clockwork."

Deciding to keep his gaze on the window, Clockwork didn't reply straight away. Honestly, he'd prefer to ignore these bumbling beings altogether but they were not going to give him much choice in the matter.

"He has escaped Clockwork." There, that dull voice echoed again and although it was not a question, it clearly demanded an answer.

"Do not presume that these events have gone unnoticed by me." At this, Clockwork finally shifted his gaze to rest on his employers as he continued, "I am fully aware of his escape and I am also aware of the events that will now unfold."

"Then you are also aware that this can simply not be allowed to happen. He must be stopped."

"And by that, you are asking me to interfere with the time line." True, he had interfered with the time line before but it is not something he liked to do haphazardly. It was something he liked to intricately plan which could take a lot of time. Fortunately, time was something the time master had plenty of and unbeknown to his employers, his 'plan' was already half formulated. "I do not do so lightly. Know that by asking me rather than taking action yourself, you allow me to do this my way, with no interference from you."

At this, his employers seemed to take a couple of moments to decide the best way to respond. Their employee's secretive ways had always been frustrating, but now, it was down-right irritating. All existence could be threatened by _his _escape and all Clockwork could do was spin them riddles. However, they did know better than to engage in an argument against the time master and as their lone, bulging eyes, seemed to twitch mercilessly for a few seconds, they concluded to respond in one way. Degradation.

"Your duty is to the time line and your incredible abilities at willing time make you a very useful accomplice for us to guard all existence. However, need we also remind you of our superiority and your duty to us."

"I have no duty to you. I have a duty to guard time and hence existence. Being that your oath to protect existence means it benefits the both of us to work with each other, do not assume any superiority over me." As the time master finished with scarcely an emotion crossing his eyes, he floated over to the gleaming orb that stood pride of place in the centre of the grand hall. "As you full well know I cannot decide what people chose. But I can give them all they need to make the right choices and this is what I will do for a second time."

"This is not simply about the right and wrong choices Clockwork! This is about the protection of an entire species!" Now their employee sounded absolutely loopy! Was it not obvious that this could not be solved with a few subtle hints?! They needed to act. And fast. Unfortunately, Clockwork was the only one who could act in these circumstances and his obliviousness, in their mind, to the gravity of this situation was incomprehensibly frustrating! Their inner struggle was cut short by that all too familiar voice.

"I do not and will not personally chose what path the time line takes. Therefore, no dire action will be taken by me. Let me remind you of a time where you and your narrow minded thinking barged into my life once before demanding one young teenage boy be eliminated to save all existence. But all he needed were a few simple nudges to keep him away from his dark future. And even though now, his dark future appears to once again be threatening the time line, I will not react in any rash manner that you believe necessary. Rather I'd prefer to let human beings have their own free will in the manner. You still do not give their free will enough credit even though I've proven once before that it is very powerful."

Internally, Clockwork scalded himself for giving his speech. He never was a fan of sentences longer than 5 words generally. Externally, his calm demeanour faltered, anger seeping through the thin cracks but these were promptly patched back up before his unaware employers noticed any sign of emotion.

The two green one-eyed beings simply looked on as Clockwork delivered his speech. Clockwork was set on doing things his way and they would not be able to sway him. Although they may not trust him, they did trust he would do what he could to protect his precious time line. "You play a risky game Clockwork but very well. He is your responsibility and if you believe you can solve this with 'a nudge' as you call it, so be it. But know we will always be watching."

With this Clockwork's employers left through the window of which he had spent most of his time gazing. He briefly watched them go before turning his attention back to the orb in which a mist seemed to be forming.

"And never acting." The Time Master completed. "Yes, a few simple nudges... though perhaps in a different direction this time."

The mist cleared to show a middle aged man, with his grey hair tied back in a pony tail sleeping on a lavish bed that was clearly bought with a sum of money incomprehensible to most people. The man softly snored, oblivious to the forthcoming events in which he would almost certainly play a pivotal part in.

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**Author's Note**

So you made it to the bottom? Couldn't have been that bad then... I hope lol!

Anyway, as I said this is my first attempt so go easy on me! That being said, I'd love to read any feedback you have and if people seem to like it, I might consider updating :P.

Psshh... To be honest, I'll probably update anyway so you can disregard that last comment hehe!

Thanks again!


	2. Dark Futures

**Author's Note**

Hello again! Thank you so much to everyone who read my first prologue and to those who left me a review! Seriously, I was so happy when I logged on and saw my first ever reviews and that they were positive! It does mean a lot to me :').

You might work out from this first proper chapter that I'm a big fan of the fruit loop that is Vlad Masters and I love the fanfics that delve into the recesses of his complicated noggin and explore father/son relationships regarding himself and Danny. There is just so much more to Vlad than the evil villain he is portrayed to be in season 3. That's why I've set this fanfiction at the end of season 2, before any of his 'take over the world' things kicked in :).

Anyway, enough rambling from me... for now!

Enjoy :)!

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As the population of Wisconsin turned their thoughts to sleep, one individual realised a peaceful slumber was something that was not going to come to him willingly that night. Waking up for the fifth time, his mind was plagued with memories of one particular teenage boy. How he had let this boy into his life to such an extent that he could not go a day without thinking about him was beyond him. For a man who had various companies to run and had to worry about leading a double life, he really did not have room for these thoughts in his cluttered mind.

Deciding he no longer cared for looking at the ceiling, he tied a red robe around his waist and made his way over to his dresser. The sight, although a familiar one, was not one he welcomed. The wrinkles that framed his face seemed to grow each and every day from failed attempt after failed attempt at gaining what was rightfully his. Sure his methods were a bit unorthodox by anybody's standards but didn't he deserve a little bit of happiness? Happiness that he knew came in the form of a young boy and his mother.

A sigh escaped his lips as he turned and wandered towards the window. Looking out over the serene countryside, a single thought echoed through his mind. What would his life be like if he had never met the Fentons? A whole lot easier that's for sure! But he wouldn't be special. He wouldn't be a billionaire. And he certainly wouldn't be one of the most feared creatures both here and in the Ghost Zone. As much as he hated to admit it, the Fentons had given his life a purpose. A set of goals he wouldn't be content until he achieved. Kill the father, marry the mother, gain a son. It all seemed so simple when he put it like that. So why hadn't he come close to achieving at least one of them yet?

Transforming into his alter ego, he phased through the window until he was steadily flying over the trees, swaying peacefully in a cool breeze. Of course he knew exactly why. The boy. That boy he desired so much to be his, to have at his side for eternity was he recognised as his weakness. Honestly, the amount of power the boy held over him was scary, even for an all powerful ghost mastermind like himself. Thankfully, the boy didn't know this... yet.

A pained yell escaped his throat as one his hands glowed with ectoplasmic energy before he sent it catapulting down into the unsuspecting countryside below. Living so far away from civilisation, no-one was disturbed, perhaps except for the wildlife that once called this selection of trees their home, but honestly, who was going to miss a couple of woodlice?

He quickly collected his thoughts before mentally scalding himself for letting his emotions get the better of him like that. Being an evil mastermind, he never did have time for emotions. They made him weak and weaknesses could be exploited. He just hoped his one recognised weakness would never be so.

Why couldn't he just get rid of this pathetic thorn in his side? He wouldn't have a problem disposing of a few other obstacles here and there, so why not that teenage boy? His mind settled on one particular obstacle that he certainly wouldn't have a problem disposing of. Danielle. Fortunately for her, he had no idea where she was. Or whether she was even alive any more. For all he knew, she could have melted a long time ago. If she hadn't however, the billionaire certainly wouldn't have a problem helping the process along. Whilst alive, she was a constant reminder of his failure to obtain the perfect half ghost son. However desperate his attempt at cloning his arch nemesis was, it was justified. After coming to the conclusion that Daniel would never forsake his father willingly and join him, the only other option left was to attempt to duplicate him, wasn't it?

Now those plans had been thwarted however, he did not know what else to do. It troubled him. He always had had a back up plan, so where was it now?

He had failed over and over again, and it was not something that sat well with the half-ghost. In his darker times, like this, he thought about eliminating the problem altogether. Eliminating the Fentons. But that meant eliminating Maddie... and Daniel. Why shouldn't he though? All that boy had done was cause him grief and pain beyond imagining, demolishing his every attempt to be happy. Disposing of him would also mean getting rid of his one weakness. So why couldn't he bring himself to do this? He was more powerful than the boy so it was perfectly possible. It would also cause that bumbling idiot Jack pain beyond all imagining... So why couldn't he... kill Daniel? Injure him, sure. Traumatise, why not? But kill? That thought made the billionaire slightly uncomfortable.

He slowly let gravity take hold again before landing on a fallen tree in the middle of a misty clearing. Amongst the dense ground foliage, his acute eyesight spied a lone ant carrying a sizeable stick above it's pitiful mass. Funny how he could draw so many parallels between himself and this measly insect. Coordinating their every activity with intricate precision, being able to lift several times their own body weight, a determined streak. He always felt the weight of the world on his shoulders but like the ant, didn't seem to mind and he never gave in. He knew he would never give up until he achieved his life's goals. Yet, when all is said and done, he wasn't just an ant. He was Vlad Masters and he had work to do.

"Time Out."

With the turn of a clock hand, the Time Master appeared in front of the temporarily frozen billionaire, a glowing orb, pulsing in his hand. He looked the man up and down before placing the orb in the hollow of the tree Vlad was standing on.

Clockwork stopped for a minute before going back to his isolated part of the ghost zone. The man before him had always fascinated the Time Master, more so than the other hybrid sometimes. Yes, he could see this creature's possible futures but what he couldn't see was the billionaire's thoughts and it genuinely frightened him. The man was notoriously impossible to predict and although he could prompt him towards one future and one course of action, he couldn't be sure whether he would take the bait, so to speak.

His employers were right about one thing. He was playing a risky game with this hybrid. After all, even after his interference with Daniel's future, he had to 'cheat' to ensure it remained an alternative and not the reality. Whose to say he wouldn't have to cheat again, lest his employers succumb to their blood lust.

Deep down, he was 99% his plan would work. Being the Master of Time, it was easy to work out the Billionaire's weakness and exploit it. He just hoped that 1% wouldn't come back to bite him.

"Time In," and with another turn of a clock, Clockwork was gone, as if he had never been there.

Vlad Masters finished his out breath just as Clockwork disappeared, completely unaware of the pulsing orb now resting underneath his feet.

"Oh the life of a billionaire, hmm? The amount of paperwork one must keep on top of really does put a downer on the pound signs," Vlad mused out loud just as he completed his metamorphosis into his ghostly alter ego before he flew back to his Wisconsin mansion to complete said paperwork.

Just after he ascended however, he heard, or rather felt a deep thudding sound, and it was close. The hybrid unwillingly succumbed to his human curiosity as he turned his head in the direction of the strange pulsing. Straight down. He may have had a mind of which the complexity rivalled that of Einstein's but he was still half human and although his brain was telling him to leave, his human heart was telling him to stay and find out what this strange pulsing was. Ultimately, his heart won for a change.

Deciding not to get too close to the area from which he figured the thumping came from, he landed again amongst some dense foliage on the edge of the clearing, about 20 metres from the log he was just standing on. Experience had taught the older hybrid to never be too cautious and as such, he sent a duplicate forward to investigate.

The sound, frequency or pitch of the thudding never changed with the duplicate's proximity. It just remained a constant pulsing. After getting as close to the noise as Vlad deemed safe, the copy found itself peering down and into the hollow log but what he saw, he did not expect.

An orb. A small, fragile, clear, pulsing orb.

_Strange _the billionaire thought to himself. He could have been certain that had not been there when he had been standing just above it only moments ago. Or at least the strange thumping hadn't, or he would have surely felt it, wouldn't he? So how did it get there? Or how was it suddenly activated, for want of a better word? He could be certain there had been no other ghost around this clearing. He would have sensed it's presence. So how in the world was it now there?! It honestly frustrated the hybrid that he, for once, did not have an answer to these questions. He was always one step ahead of the game, so why was he not now?

Quickly pulling himself out of his spiralling thoughts before it became too late, he decided to complete his investigations. His duplicate formed a ball of ecto energy in one of it's palms before it fired it right at the centre of the orb. What happened next however, he did not predict. The orb rebounded the blast... and shot it straight back towards it's owner! Not prepared for such an assault, the copy took the full force of it, before being wiped from existence. Clearly, this orb did not want to be destroyed.

Grunting in irritation, Vlad's mind processed all possible courses of actions regarding this orb. Proximity didn't affect it, and he was not about to attack it again. Maybe he could test some of his other powers on it. Intangibility perhaps... but that would mean making physical contact... and if the person who put it there wished him harm that could only be a bad thing. His mind even contemplated leaving it and flying back to his Wisconsin home, that this orb might not even be anything to do with him. But something told him this orb was meant for him. Why he didn't know but he did know he wasn't about to leave.

So what was he going to do now? He found his thoughts drifting back to his younger rival and his reckless streak. Though he condemned it and always preferred his intricate planning to the boy's rash impulses, even he had to admit that Daniel always seemed to come out on top in their quarrels. It was almost comical, like someone had written his character to be the villain and Daniel's, the hero.

Taking a leaf from his nemesis' book, he took a deep breath as he advanced, crouched down and reached out his hand towards the pulsing orb.

Upon making contact with the foreign object, the forest he was standing in suddenly dissolved around him. Panicked didn't even cut it. He was terrified. Vlad Masters was terrified. Why the hell did he touch that blasted orb? Why didn't he just leave it be? Now he was being sucked downwards, almost like being dragged through the gates of hell. Except there were no flames or a kaleidoscope of colours. It was pitch black.

It was then that he realised something else. He couldn't breathe. He was suffocating in a black vacuum. I guess now he knew how spiders felt like when they were sucked down the plughole. But would anyone even find him if he died here? In this airless void? … Would anyone even care?

He pushed these thoughts to the back of his mind. They wouldn't do him much good at the moment. Rather, all they would do is depress him. So, he concentrated on one of the most basic and yet most complicated bodily functions. His breathing. But no matter how much he tried to pull precious air into his lungs, all that would greet him was a rasping sound as his throat constricted without a drop of oxygen passing through.

But wait. Wasn't he in ghost form when he touched the orb? He was sure he could survive without oxygen for a while... but not forever. Well that was it then. If he couldn't come up with a plan of action, he was going to die here. He was going to die alone, with no one around him. He was going to die as a result of his own foolishness. The notion of your life flashing before your eyes before you die couldn't be more accurate for the billionaire at this current moment as he thought about everyone that ever did him wrong. Jack. Maddie... Daniel.

Suddenly, he was wrenched from his thoughts by lashings of rain whipping against his skin, and the hustle and bustle of people below him as they struggled not to get wet. As he opened his eyes, he realised something. He was in Amity Park. But wasn't he in Wisconsin just a couple of seconds ago? Was it possible that orb was some sort of teleporting device? It was perfectly plausible, but then who would want to bring him here?

Before he could spiral into the recesses of his own mind yet again, he was distracted by a piercing scream that flooded the air around him. A scream so pained, it was spine tingling. A blood curdling scream he recognised could only have come from one person.

Daniel.

Without a second thought, he took off in the direction of the scream, ignoring the horrified citizens below him. In that moment, his fatherly instincts towards the boy kicked in as he couldn't think about anything else apart from getting to Daniel. The intensity of his scream was one that meant the young halfa was clearly close to his limits. True, he had caused the boy unimaginable pain in the past but that was when he was in control and he knew he would always stop before his desire to do away with the boy took over. But it was clear that whoever or whatever was causing Daniel this much agony had no intention of stopping any time soon. The younger hybrid was more than likely going to be murdered if he didn't get to him, and fast.

He found the source of the scream at the top of a ten story office building, in the centre of Amity. A crowd was gathering below, some wanting to see what was causing their hero Danny Phantom to let out such a scream, others waiting with recording equipment, hoping to catch live footage of his imminent death. Honestly, it was sickening. What was more sickening though was the sight that greeted him at the top of that building. Daniel. But not the Daniel he knew. Not that Daniel who would never give up no matter what. Nor the boy who would laugh in the face of danger. Nor the hero who would sacrifice anything and everything for his home town and those that lived there. This Daniel was pitiful as his ragged body lay ungracefully atop the edge of the building, ectoplasm oozing from the deep gashes that decorated his unsightly body. His quivering being, intensified by his laboured breaths reflected only one emotion. The younger hybrid was scared. Not a big surprise when one considered he was probably about to be killed but from the older hybrid's perspective he was petrified of the being that had actually done this to him.

His gaze finally rested on the creature behind him. The ghost's light blue skin tone contrasted greatly with it's piercing red eyes, filled with a loathing so deep which Vlad could only assume originated from the need for revenge. Yes, he was very familiar with that particular emotion. Fiery hair framed the spectre's face, cascading down his neck and falling to rest upon his cape, very similar to the billionaire's own he noted, which rippled in the unrelenting wind. His muscular physique, which towered threateningly over the teenager completed the whole intimidating super villain look Vlad guessed he must have been going for. But what caught the older hybrid's attention the most was the black and white jumpsuit framing said muscles. It was too similar to Danny's own to be pure coincidence. It even had Danny's signature icon plastered proudly on the front. In that moment the thoughts and explanations going through his brain were too numerous to count.

Daniel let out another blood-curdling scream as the ominous being seemed to electrify the helpless hybrid to the point that the white transformation rings appeared around his middle and travelled up and down the length of his body, replacing his mutilated black and white jumpsuit with a blood stained white tee and blue jeans.

The next part all happened too quickly for the billionaire to recollect. One minute the creature seemed to be talking to the young hybrid and the next, he had thrown him careening off the top of the building, heading straight towards the scattered crowds below and his ultimate doom.

Acting on impulse, the older hybrid shot forward to swipe the younger out of the air, ultimately saving him from the harsh concrete below. If he could save the young half ghost now, he might come round to seeing him as something more than an arch enemy. He might finally recognise him as the father the billionaire so desired to be. Well it was worth a shot. Telling himself this was the reason for his, what some might call heroic, actions, he reached out his arms underneath Daniel's tumbling mass only for the boy to fall straight through them. Impossible! Daniel was far to weak to phase and even if he wasn't he doubted the boy was even aware of his presence!

Just as Vlad let gravity overwhelm him as he shot downwards in another attempt to catch the doomed halfa, he was submerged once again in a suffocating darkness before he found himself in the clearing he had been so rudely taken from only minutes beforehand.

He tried to slow his accelerated breathing as he attempted to come to terms with what had just happened. Had he just seen Daniel die? Or worse, did he just witness Daniel's murder? And was he... powerless to stop it from happening?

All logical thinking told him that someone messing with him. Using his weakness against him. But who knew his weakness? He was pretty sure not even Daniel himself knew of it. Even he wasn't aware of it until the Pariah Dark incident. So what the hell was that he just saw?

Priorities first. He resolved to know if the inconceivable event he just witnessed was real as he took off to the skies and towards Amity Park.

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**Author's Note**

So that's that then! Hope I didn't do Vlad's character too much injustice hehe :P. If it is not already clear, I will try not portray Vlad as a two dimensional villain in this fic!

Yep, I managed to get this chapter up pretty quickly because I had already mostly written it when I posted the prologue but I haven't written anything for the next one yet, so it might be a few days longer. Plus I work Wednesday - Sunday so may not be able to work on it as much as I've managed to in the past couple of days lol. That being said, I will try to update weekly, and failing that, every 2 weekly :).

Oh and we might see our favourite teenage half ghost properly in the next chapter, hopefully without him getting murdered. Naw, wasn't I cruel to him in this chapter?

Love to my reviewers and readers *virtual hugs* See you all next time!


	3. (Un)Expected Surprises

**Author's Note**

Hello again :), another chapter for you to read (if you want to!)

I haven't actually had much of a life this past week writing this chapter, it was so annoying to get parts of it right and even now I'm not happy with all of it! (You might know which parts I mean!)

I also spent quite a lot of time editing and re-editing it but even so, it probably won't be perfect because I don't have anyone at the moment to proof read it for me. If anyone wants that (unpaid) job let me know haha!

Anyway, thank you to everyone that left me a review, I love to read them! They definitely make me want to keep writing! I'm also open to anyone highlighting any mistakes as it only improves my writing! The guest who made me aware of my wrong spelling of scolding - thank you! You may have noticed I've changed it in this chapter!

Hope you enjoy it!

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What's that saying? Behind every great man is a great woman? Or as she liked to think of it... a greater woman. _Yes. Definitely greater,_ the teenage girl currently running through the streets of Amity Park thought to herself. It didn't surprise her when she flipped on the TV that evening only to see footage of her best friend in another life and death battle. It genuinely would have shocked her at this point if she didn't see him fight for his life on a daily basis. Ghost fighting had now become routine for herself and her two best friends. Not that she minded. She never was the type of girl to sit at home and paint her nails.

So now, after she had avoided her parents and grabbed her Fenton Thermos, Fenton Wrist Rays and Fenton Bazooka, she found herself running against the flow of people and towards the fight where she knew she'd find her best friend locked in battle.

"Sam!" The bespectacled teenage boy called from behind her. He too, was running against the flow of traffic but, not being as athletic as his female friend, a fact that he was greatly embarrassed about, he was lagging a few paces behind.

"Tucker, where's Danny?!"

As if to answer her question, a roaring crash was heard above them and as they looked up, their best friend and hero came thundering down the side of, what used to be a block of flats, in a black, white and green blur before landing in front of the two teenagers with a deafening thud.

"I think I found him."

Deciding to ignore the comment, the girl ran forwards and towards her best friend who still seemed to be recovering from the impact with the pavement.

"Danny, are you okay?" Upon receiving a glare from the ghost lying in front of her, she helped her friend up before continuing, "Sorry, standard question."

"Dude," the African American boy joined, "the losing thing really doesn't work for you."

"Jeez Tuck," the hybrid replied, "thanks for enlightening me. Maybe I should start winning now?" He sarcastically reproached.

"Yeah, you could do that," the goth girl interrupted, "or we could all run!" Turning around just in time to see the serpent chucking decimated rubble in their direction, the ghost boy hastily grabbed his two best friends before turning all three of them intangible as a wrecked car crashed down on top of them.

"Wow," Tucker commented upon being tangible again in the boot of the car, "does the term 'back seat driver' come to mind here? And was that a snake?!"

"Tucker, concentrate!" Sam scolded. She of course, was well aware of Tucker's irrational fear, but herself, she never had time for phobias. Frankly, the only thing she was scared off was the image of her mother running towards her with a pink, frilly dress in her hands. Now that. That was terrifying.

The sudden movement of the vehicle they were in wrenched the trio out of their thoughts as they felt themselves being flung through the air, reaching speeds they didn't really want to think about. Turning all three intangible again, Danny yanked his best friends back out off the car before depositing them in a nearby alleyway and taking off back towards the reptile. About to run after her best friend, Sam raced in the direction of the action before noticing Tucker was not following.

"Sam, I'm scared of snakes! Especially ones the size of the Empire State Building!"

"Tucker, it's not just a snake, it's a ghost! And it's a ghost that's after Danny! I don't know about you, but I'm not about to let Danny, our best friend, become snake food!" With that Sam bolted after her ghostly pal, leaving Tucker alone.

Meanwhile, Danny had managed to get a couple of good hits on his slippery foe, but not without a cost to himself. His energy was quickly depleting whilst the snake in front of him seemed to look as fresh as a daisy.

He slowed to catch his breath, quickly wishing he never had as at that moment the snake lunged at the hybrid who was now floating tiredly above the wrecked street below him. Sharp fangs grazed the teenager's shoulder, drawing ectoplasm from his pierced skin. Danny yelled at the sudden pain as he clasped his shoulder to numb the throbbing sensation and bolted up into the night sky, narrowly missing another attempted strike.

Back in the alleyway, Tucker found himself between a rock and a hard place. He had a phobia of snakes! He knew it was irrational but he just couldn't bring himself to move from his safe spot. That is until he heard Danny scream in sudden agony and his loyalty to his best friend 'since forever' won out as he took off after his two friends. _Man, he is really going to owe me for this later _he thought as he rounded the corner and came face to face with the ghostly python and his two friends before jumping reluctantly into the fray himself.

The serpent let out a wailing hiss as Danny quickly recovered and one of his ectoblasts hit the snake on it's softer underside but before the hybrid could celebrate his small victory, the snake had coiled it's tail around the young hero's body, forcing precious air out of his lungs. Struggling for breath, the half ghost built some of his remaining energy before forcefully expelling it out of every inch of his being, leaving the reptile writhing in pain and himself hurtling towards the ground, once again.

"You know, sometimes I'd like to go at least one fight without my butt making friends with the concrete," Danny said, picking himself up and glancing at the imprint he left, his newest addition to the pavement that day.

Neither Tucker nor Sam had missed their best friend catapulting towards ground but the snake's sizeable mass before them did somewhat hinder them from getting to Danny. Not that it was going to stop them. Together, they fired an ecto ray from the devices they both had on their wrists so that it made contact with the middle of the snake's slippery body, instinctively making the reptile arch it's injured middle upwards, leaving an opening for the two teenagers to dive underneath the serpent and towards their friend.

Grabbing her more scared friend by the hand, Sam slid feet first underneath the snake's bulk, shortly followed by Tucker. Noticing what the two humans were doing, the ghost impulsively shot it's slimy tongue after them, resulting in it's head following them underneath it's own mass.

Upon seeing his two friends running towards him oblivious to the snake following close behind, Danny shot forward, creating an ecto shield around the trio with what little energy he had left before the reptile's tongue could coil round either of them.

It was at that point though that the violet eyed girl noticed something. The snake was getting tangled up in it's own body! And surely an immobile snake would be a lot easier to capture in one of their Thermos' right?

"Danny!" The girl screamed, indicating an opening through which if the ghost boy flew would complete the knot the snake had so graciously started before hand.

Understanding his friend's intent, the halfa let his shield drop before firing blasts at the ghost's beady eyes, capturing it's attention enough so that it followed the boy as he flew straight through the opening.

The next thing any of the teenagers remembered was a thundering wail as the goth girl's plan worked with the snake completing the knot, leaving it unable to move and completely vulnerable! Catching the Thermos his male friend tossed towards him, Danny uncapped the lid before sucking in the useless writhing ghost and landing next to his ghost fighting accomplices. Or as he liked to think of them as, his best friends.

"Dude! That is the last time I face a snake for you! They still creep me out!"

Danny smiled at his two friends before grimacing when he saw the bruises that littered his tired body. Not to mention the gash in his shoulder currently spewing ectoplasm. He didn't want to think about how he was going to explain that to Mum and Dad.

Sam hadn't missed the gash either as she advanced towards her best friend.

"Danny... that looks painful." She said, indicating the wound.

"I'll be fine Sam. I heal quickly remember?" The hybrid looked into Sam's twinkling violet eyes. Those eyes! He could so easily get lost in them!

Sensing he was the only one who was going to break this... moment, Tucker awkwardly coughed before continuing, "Danny, I hate to tear you away from your... thoughts and all, but I think I should probably remind you that your curfew was five minutes ago. And so was ours for that matter."

Eyes widening with the sudden heads up, Danny pulled himself away from the sea of violet he was currently swimming in before thanking his friends for their help and hastily taking the aerial route home.

Sam and Tucker could only watch their best friend go before walking home themselves, resigned in the knowledge that the same fate was going to meet all three of them on their arrival home that night.

* * *

"But you're still grounded!"

Danny meekly rolled his eyes at his parent's response to his arriving home fifteen minutes after curfew. With all those late night ghost attacks, it was rare that he did abide by his ten o'clock curfew. So now, scarcely a week went past without his parents saying the 'g' word.

As he made his way up the staircase, Danny thought about giving out free pocket watches to each of the ghosts that attacked him so they'd have some concept of time. Or better yet. Write up a timetable of when each ghost could attack him and distribute it throughout the Ghost Zone. Sadly though, he didn't think the ghosts would like that idea.

A sigh which seemed to encompass all his pent up frustration of the day's events escaped his mouth as slumped onto his bed.

The python ghost had been the last of seven ghosts to attack that day so naturally, the fighting had taken it's toll on the young ghost. He just hoped tomorrow he would have a day off to recuperate. But he knew, it didn't quite work like that. Oh well. At least tomorrow was Saturday so he didn't have school to worry about.

Just as Danny didn't think he could stay awake much longer, he was interrupted by a knock on his door before it opened revealing his sister, Jazz.

His older sister almost had a sixth sense when it came to knowing if something was wrong with her little brother and it was this sixth sense that brought her to his bedroom door tonight. Of course she'd heard her brother arrive home after his curfew and her parents verdict. This was quite normal but sisterly intuition told her that something was up when she didn't hear him retort with any counter comment of protest or even defeat.

Sighing loudly at seeing his defeated form draped over his bed, she walked over before sitting down next to him and tenderly placing one hand on his knee. This small action seemed to encapsulate all the love she felt for her little brother, how proud she was of him for all he did and it showed in the small smile that tugged at the corners of her mouth as she looked down into Danny's dimmed sapphire eyes.

The hybrid returned her smile with an equally loving one of his own and only for a moment blue met blue before he broke his gaze but not the silence that shrouded the room. His sister did that for him.

"Danny, what's wrong?"

"Nothing Jazz, I'm fine."

"You know, I'm a lot smarter than you give me credit for, and you know it. I know something is wrong and I want to help you."

She suddenly realised Danny was holding onto his shoulder and when she went to move his hand away she caught a glimpse of, what was now, blood before he quickly covered his aching wound again. Her next comment was almost a gasp.

"You're hurt."

Danny couldn't argue with this. His sister was right. He was hurt. Then again, his sister was always right. She had been the first person to figure out his secret but had still been able to keep up the façade of being in the dark for his sake. She genuinely did care and want to help him, like she always did and sometimes Danny wondered whether he'd survive without her there to provide a shoulder. Tonight was no different as his sister sat, waiting patiently for his answer.

Not being able to argue with Jazz, he simply sighed again before sitting up on his bed and placing his other hand over his sister's that still rested on his leg.

"It's nothing Jazz and I appreciate that you want to help but I don't know whether you can because I don't even know what's wrong. I think I'm just exhausted. Every day it's the same, a ghost attacks which makes me late for school. I get detention even though it isn't my fault. Lancer tries to talk to me about my failing grades then another ghost attacks and I have to leave which just gets me into even more trouble. Not to mention the fact that I can never abide by my curfew any more because... guess what? Another ghost decides to attack me. You know I sometimes wish I wasn't part ghost. That I was... normal. And you know... the thought of separating two halves of me petrifies me."

Danny collapsed back onto his bed in defeat, honestly shocked that he'd just said that much. He never liked to burden anyone with his problems, especially his over bearing sister. And now he'd just touched on a subject which he swore to himself he'd never speak about. Good going Fenton.

Jazz meanwhile was just as shocked that he'd gone there. She'd never heard him brush that subject since the day he found out that she knew his secret.

"Oh Danny... I know how much... _he_ scares you but you made a promise that you wouldn't become him. And I believe you. As does Sam and Tucker. We all believe in you and you need to believe in yourself. Danny, I'm so proud of you for everything that you do. You know, sometimes I think some things were meant to happen and I think you were meant to become half ghost because you think of others before yourself and would risk everything for those you love. A hero is what you are and always will be. You're nothing like him."

Unnerved by his sister's uncanny ability to reassure him about exactly what was going through his mind, the hybrid sat up again and put his arms tightly around her to which she returned the gesture. He was right. He wouldn't be half the person he was without her.

The brother and sister remained in each other's embrace for what seemed like forever, but in reality was only a few minutes. Danny thought that nothing could ruin this peaceful moment. Nothing except... a blue wisp escaping his mouth.

Abruptly breaking away from his sister, he let the two white rings wash over him, replacing Danny Fenton with Danny Phantom.

He looked around the room to find the ghost responsible and when he did, every inch of his being clenched as his anger almost seemed to glow red around him.

"Plasmius."

* * *

It was nightfall when Vlad landed on the outskirts of Amity Park. Looking towards the peaceful town, it was hard to believe that it was now plagued with daily ghost attacks. Not that it was that much of a surprise with the evil ghost magnet that was Danny Phantom living there. It was just as hard to believe that Daniel could have actually just been murdered mere hours ago here. The whole town just seemed dead with absolutely no signs of activity anywhere. He wasn't taking any chances though as he made his way towards his destination.

Now in Amity, it didn't take long to reach Fentonworks. It was only a few miles as the crow flies, and being able to fly certainly had it's advantages. Add that to the fact that Fentonworks was the only building in the town to have an op centre attached to the top meant it really didn't take a map and a compass to locate it.

So now, as he found himself floating a few metres away from his enemy's abode, he suddenly found himself having second thoughts about checking up on his rival's... current status. It wasn't really any of his concern anyway, was it? And what if Daniel was indeed alive? He wouldn't be happy to see him, he never was! Not that he could blame him. Then again, if Daniel wasn't... there... someone would have to comfort Maddie. She'd certainly need a shoulder to cry on and he was sure his was much better than Jack's.

Mind made up, he slowly floated closer to the window that he knew through which would be Daniel's bedroom. The sight that greeted him he was sure would have made his heart melt, _if I had one, _he mentally added. It did however flood him with relief. There, in front of him was Daniel and Jazz appearing to be having a family moment as they hugged each other tightly on his bed. It was a pity that he'd have to break it up but he wasn't content just seeing Daniel. It could be another vision for all he knew. He had to be sure.

Seeing the younger hybrid break away from his sister and change into his alter ego, he made his move as he phased through into Daniel's bedroom before turning visible under right in front of the teen's eyes.

"Plasmius."

The two hybrids stared at each other for a moment, very different thoughts racing through both minds, before the younger broke the silence.

"What do you want this time Plasmius? Here to beg me to become your evil apprentice? Or is it good old fashioned kill my father, marry my mum?"

The older hybrid raised an eyebrow at his remark. Yes. That was Daniel alright. As arrogant as ever. Oh well, he supposed he would have to humour him.

"Hilarious boy. Can one not simply visit just to say hello?"

"You would never visit just to say hello. Can I just kick your butt so I can go to bed now please?"

"I did not come to fight you, Daniel."

"Oh yeah, sure. C'mon Plasmius. What twisted scheme is forming in your head this time?"

"Honestly Daniel, do I really need a reason to visit my little badger?"

Danny glared at his nemesis. The use of the pet name always made his blood boil and he also knew that this was exactly why Vlad had used it.

"Yes. When it's past ten o'clock at night, I think one does need a reason." The third voice jolted the two half ghosts out of their staring contest. They had been so caught up in their conversation, they had completely forgotten about the ginger haired girl, now standing next to Danny's bed. Danny looked quickly behind him and shot her a grateful smile. Without her interruption, he was sure he would have shot the old man floating in front of him into the next dimension by now. Instead, he was now quietly seething at his rival's unplanned visit.

"Ahh, Jasmine. Always so... perceptive. I suppose I do have a reason. Though what it is, is of no concern to either of you."

"You know, keeping things to yourself is really bad for you. Once again, another reason to support my argument that you really should get a cat. Would give you someone to talk to."

Seeing the pink energy forming in the elder ghost's hand in response to her brother's insult, Jazz quickly piped in, "I wouldn't Vlad. Fighting so close to our parent's bedroom would only disturb them. You wouldn't want them kicking down Danny's door to find not one but two ghosts in here, would you?"

Reluctantly letting the energy dissipate, Vlad returned the teenager's smug grin with one of his own. Leaving Daniel without a reason for his visit would certainly aggravate his young foe and he couldn't tell him the reason even if he wanted to. The man decided it was time to take his leave.

"I really do not have time for this anyway, Daniel. Unlike you, I have more important things to do with my time." The billionaire finally pulled his icy stare away from his arch-nemesis before spinning on his heels and departing the same way he came in, leaving both remaining parties just as confounded by his sudden exit as they were at his abrupt appearance. Danny was sure if his life was a cartoon his jaw would have hit the floor by now.

He found only one word fitting for describing Vlad's actions that night. One word that seemed to sum up his rival's bizarre personality very well.

"Fruit loop."

Vlad was definitely planning something and whatever Vlad was planning would only bring him one thing if experience was anything to go by. Trouble.

Sensing the tension radiating of Danny, Jazz made her way over to her, now human, brother. She gently placed a hand on his shoulder before reassuring him that anything Vlad was going to throw at him, he could deal with. But he would have to deal with it in the morning. Right now, it was clear her brother needed to go to sleep.

Jazz only left Danny that night when she had seen the steady rise and fall of his chest under the duvet. She pitifully smiled one last time at the exhausted half ghost before closing his bedroom door. Her brother was so special to do what he did day in day out, with scarcely a concern for his own well being. But it was such a shame he didn't know just how special he was.

* * *

The cool, midnight breeze whipped around the ghost's face as he made his way from young Daniel's bedroom window. He looked up towards the sky in disdain, mouth slightly open as if to look like he was trying to catch a small snowflake on the tip of his tongue. The peaceful night sky he looked so desperately towards did little though to comfort the thoughts that raced through his mind.

Shaking his head, he lifted off up towards that harmonious haven but no matter how high he went, the comforting azure shade would always be just out of reach, just like any other happiness in his existence, he supposed.

He slowed his pace until he hovered just under the shining moon that cascaded light down around him. Looking towards the peaceful town below, he suddenly found himself yearning for a more simple life before quickly shaking off the weak thoughts. He was one of the most feared and respected men and ghosts on earth and in the ghost zone. He wasn't about to suddenly wish that away.

He once again found himself thinking about the person that bought him to this solitary town and... the ectoplasm that oozed from his quivering being... and the look of fear in his watering eyes. He scrunched up his face in disgust before looking once again towards the night sky. These images hadn't left him since he first saw them. But what did they mean?

At least he knew one thing now. Daniel was alive. He was sure that what he saw this time was no vision. The boy had actually responded to him albeit with the same hostility as always and minus a few cuts and bruises, he was fine.

At one with the wind, he glided back towards Fentonworks, stopping again just outside Daniel's window. Just like earlier, he noted a blue wisp escape the young boy's mouth at his close proximity but this time, the teenager just shivered and pulled the duvet even further over his head. It would have almost been comical if it hadn't been so tragic. The ghost hunting really had taken it's toll on the young hybrid today.

"Daniel... Why do you spurn me so much? I could help you if you just left your father and came to me." He knew the young half ghost would never forsake his family for him though. To the boy lying in front of him, he was but an arch rival that he loathed with every bone in his body. Why couldn't he see he wanted to be so much more than that to him? All he wanted was for Daniel to be his son, his apprentice, couldn't he see they were destined to be together?! But now, his little badger might be taken away from him if what he saw was true. If it was a prophecy of some sort.

Clogs whirred again in the billionaire's mind. If it was a prophecy, why then show it to him?! What was it supposed to do, expect confuse him?!

The hybrid's mood instantly changed again as his eyes lightened with what could have been light bulbs replacing his red pupils. Unless... he was supposed to stop it from happening? That was it, wasn't it? He was supposed to save Daniel? Ironic how he'd spent so long trying to hurt the young boy in every way possible yet now he found himself contemplating plans in which he could save the teenager before him from his bleak supposed future.

Of course, he was still suspicious of whoever had placed the orb in front of him the night before but he was now sure it was not supposed to cause him harm. Daniel was still alive, and so was he for that matter. Surely if someone wanted to hurt either of them, they would have done it by now?

As if to seek reassurance from them that what he was thinking was correct, he turned his gaze back towards the stars that twinkled, all knowingly above him. They provided him with little help. All they told him was how constant they were. Those stars were there way before any human, were here now and would be there long into the future, only looking down upon them. He looked back towards the boy laying in front of him. In contrast, this teenager's life was so fragile, it could be stripped from him at any moment. It didn't help when he seemed to tap danger on the shoulder each day but it was a sobering thought for the billionaire.

Combing his hand through his sleek, black hair, the man phased into the house and down into the lab below, mind made up on the matter. He wanted a son and Daniel needed saving. It was almost as if the hand of God had handed the teenager to him on a silver platter, giving him all the motivation he needed to carry out a plan which had been brewing in his complicated mind ever since he met young Daniel.

Typing in the most predictable password known to man, the ghost portal before him opened, revealing a swirling green vortex, beyond which sat the ghost zone. Taking one last look back, he stepped through the portal and suddenly felt at one with the atmosphere around him that seemed to provide some comfort as it penetrated his ghostly soul. As a ghost, he belonged here and the deep, calming sensation that washed over him now he was here confirmed that.

He still never preferred to travel between Wisconsin and Amity using the ghost zone. It just posed much more risk as far as the hybrid was concerned. A behemoth attack here, a random vortex opening there. It was nothing Vlad couldn't handle but generally he just couldn't be bothered. Yes, using his human world was a lot safer and easier. But it was also a lot slower, and speed was one thing he was definitely going for now. He would have travelled via the ghost zone on the way here if he could have been sure the Fenton's portal would have been open.

Begrudgingly, he set his path back towards his own ghost portal, through which lay his Wisconsin home. He really didn't want to delay this any longer than he had to. The longer Daniel was away from him, the longer he was at risk according to the billionaire. But he had no choice. As a ghost, Daniel would be much more tricky, but as a human...

* * *

Danny awoke the next morning to the obnoxious sound of his alarm clock bleating out monotonous tones that echoed off his four bedroom walls with such force that he couldn't help but think whether the vibrations were going to bounce him right out of his bed. Sometimes ultra sensitive ghost hearing and an untamed morning imagination really weren't a good combination.

Groggily, he repeatedly pounded the top of the infernal device until it relented and threw the room once again into silence. Letting out a tired groan most teenagers would be familiar with, he chanced a look at the clock, only to groan even louder when it told him the time was half seven. He mentally scolded himself for forgetting to turn his alarm off the night before. He had been too tired he supposed and now he found himself awake at half seven on a Saturday morning, a time he didn't even think existed.

Shrinking into his soft duvet cocoon, he decided that although he may now be awake, he was not planning on getting out of bed for at least another five hours. That is if Skulker didn't try to hang his pelt on his wall or if...

"DANNY!"

… his Dad didn't try to shove one of his new inventions in his face that would probably end up maiming him.

"DANNY!"

Trying his best to not exist, he remained as silent as possible under his warm duvet whilst wondering why he had to be born into a family of morning people. If possible at this point, he scrunched his eyes even tighter when he heard the loud thumping of footsteps coming up the stairs until they stopped just outside his door. A loud knocking then accompanied his Dad's booming voice before his bedroom door was forcibly opened a few seconds later to reveal a large man adorning a tight orange jump suit, holding some sticky substance which for all intent and purpose, had a remarkable resemblance to that Playdough stuff one used to play with as a child.

Admitting defeat, Danny threw the duvet from over his head, his face a mixture of annoyance, anger and tiredness, if it was possible to convey all three emotions at once. Not that his father took much notice, he was much more preoccupied with the weird substance held in his hand that now seemed to be glowing, much to the amazement of the owner.

"Hey, uh, Dad... what is that?" Curiosity had now got the better of the teenager at seeing his father's thrill of the goo's weird change with his close proximity. That could only be a bad thing if experience was anything to go on with his Dad's inventions.

"This, my boy, is the Fenton Goooost Melter! Once it comes in contact with a ghost it will dissolve into it's very being and melt down all the ectoplasmic energy from the inside before all that's left is a puddle of ectoplasm on the floor! Although what I don't get is why it's now glowing... It should only do that when a ghost is near!"

The teenager instantly paled with his Dad's explanation. As he far he was concerned, this particular invention was definitely going to be filed under the 'must avoid' list.

"So... looks like you still got some bugs to work out huh? I mean, there's definitely no ghost here." Danny suddenly felt a pang of guilt at seeing his father's disheartened expression but he couldn't exactly say 'hey Dad, guess what? I'm a ghost! That would explain why it's glowing!' He would have to settle for feeling guilty.

His father then reeled off some scientific explanation as to what could have gone wrong that Danny tuned out after the first couple of sentences. Although, he found he couldn't have listened even if he wanted to as half way through his Dad's speech the man's voice got quieter and quieter as he travelled away from Danny's bedroom and towards the downstairs lab.

Danny's relief at his father's departure flooded to the surface as he raked his hand through his messy, black hair. The very much now awake hybrid knew going back to sleep was no longer an option and so, he stumbled out of bed and into the shower, letting the warm water wash over him and wash away all the bad thoughts of his fight with the Python ghost, Vlad's unexpected visit last night and now the Fenton Goooost Melter.

The rest of the day passed as per usual for the hybrid. He listened to his sister read and reread a psychology essay, met up with Tucker and Sam for their patrol of Amity Park, sent a few ghosts back to the ghost zone and actually managed to complete some of Lancer's set homework. Nothing much out of the ordinary for the teen and he was now enjoying the fact that nothing had gone particularly wrong after everything that had happened yesterday. Even the wound on his shoulder appeared to have healed nicely. Of course he still couldn't get Vlad's visit out of his head but right now he was just trying to concentrate on the moment as he slumped onto his bed, laid back and closed his eyes, listening to the world pass by just outside his bedroom window.

It was a moment of calm the young half ghost never really got a chance to experience since his accident almost a year ago now, the accident that really had changed his life more than he could have fathomed. Within a year he had gone from full time loser Danny Fenton to part time town hero and menace Danny Phantom. He now led a life most teenagers could only dream of but it did half take it's toll on the boy. He was now failing at school and had pressures no teenager should have but he knew he wouldn't change a thing. People now relied on him to keep them safe and he was not about to let them down.

Deciding he wasn't content to just listen to the outside world, he transformed into his alter ego before phasing out of his bedroom and flying above the town he so avidly protected. Unknowingly, he started to look at the same sky his nemesis had looked towards the night before. The navy blue blanket that now covered the earth brought him so much more comfort than it had his rival. He just felt so calm up amongst the stars which seemed to twinkle in the right places... Just like a certain pair of violet eyes he knew... Suddenly realising what he was thinking about, he quickly shook his head and sped up, nearing the serene sky. Up here, he could just be himself without having to worry about the stress which now followed him wherever he went, or what people would think about him.

Letting his guard down for just a moment, he closed his eyes and let gravity overwhelm him as he started his rapid descent, knowing he would be able to pull himself upwards just before he made contact with the earth below. He thoroughly enjoyed the rush of wind caressing his skin, making his grin broaden like a cat who had just found the cream. Although, being Danny Phantom, letting his guard down is one thing he should never do, and would never do again.

* * *

Vlad had managed to complete the journey back to his Wisconsin portal a lot quicker than he thought he would. In fact, he had already located the device he needed for the next part of his plan and could now see the swirling green vortex that acted as a portal between the ghost zone and the younger hybrid's home.

He couldn't help but think that he would push the young boy away forever with what he was about to do next. But he couldn't dwell on that thought forever. Honestly, he thought he had probably put the boy out of his reach already with his past schemes so he surely didn't have anything left to lose. It was worth one last try to get the boy on his side anyway, he told himself saving the teenager's life was just a side effect.

Landing on the solid ground of Fentonworks, it took a lot of his concentration to stay invisible and check no one was present before turning visible again. His unplanned journey and lack of sleep in the past twenty-four hours really had exhausted the older hybrid and he made a mental note to recuperate his lost strength once he arrived back in Wisconsin.

His own, unique ghost sense told him his rival was not currently in the house and his own human hearing also told him to get out of the lab quickly before Jack completed his journey down the stairs and came face to face with his ghostly form. Hastily phasing through the ceiling, through Danny's bedroom and finally the op centre, he found himself hovering above the Fenton residence, looking out over the town.

Sensing Danny's ghostly signature coming from behind, he turned and flew to where he supposed the young hybrid must be and sure enough, he found him flying peacefully above the town he called his home. He watched the boy for a while, in awe at his capability to appear so at one with the world around him when he knew the teenager's hero complex meant he fought with himself everyday to continue to protect the town that so easily shunned him.

He was silently relieved that he had no such complex. He probably wouldn't have survived this long if he had. His existence, he made sure, was based purely on other's fear of him and his goal to obtain love, supposedly not caring who he hurt to get it. Such a complex would have definitely got in the way of his ruthless lifestyle by now.

He also knew such a conscience would have stopped him from doing what he was about to do next.

Seeing Daniel suddenly drop from the sky and knowing the boy was now not aware of what was happening around him, he realised it was his time to act.

In one swift moment, he teleported to end up right next to the boy, hand outstretched with the device he had retrieved from his Wisconsin mansion. The gadget instantly made contact with the younger hybrid, forcing a scream from the teenager's mouth as his powers were short circuited, the two white rings appearing to replace his black and white jumpsuit with his usual jeans and tee.

Danny didn't even know what had gone wrong when he found himself unable to change back and plummeting towards the harsh ground below.

* * *

**Author's Note**

You made it then? Yeah, slightly longer than last time - but not too long I hope!

You could probably tell that this chapter was laying the foundations for the rest of the story really which was what made it a nightmare to write as I had to make sure everything that needed to be in there was!

The first scene was also my first attempt at writing a bit of action which I can say is without a doubt I found very hard! If anyone has any tips on how to write good action scenes, I would be very grateful if you could private message me :).

And the Jazz and Danny moment! Gah, that was annoying! I absolutely love family moments in books and films which is why I wanted to write a few into this story but God that was hard to try to get right lol!

I also noticed that Danny seems to do a lot of falling in this story... Huh. I'll see if I can minimise the amount of times he "makes friends with the concrete" (as he puts it) in future hehe.

Anyway, until next time I guess! Ciao!


	4. Stirring

**Author's Note**

Nothing to say this time! Shock horror!

Well apart from... Enjoy! :) ... And thanks for your amazing reviews ^.^

_Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, do not own Danny Phantom._

* * *

Danny knew his lifestyle meant the probability of dying prematurely was higher than for most teenagers his age but he never really thought much of it. Until now. Honestly he thought that if he had to die, he at least deserved to meet his end heroically... maybe protecting the town or something? Not crashing to the ground because he lost control of his powers for a freak moment.

In the young hybrid's panic, he did something he hadn't done for a long time. Instinctively, he shouted one single word that he knew if anyone heard would render him unable to show his face in public for a long time... if he survived this, he reminded himself.

"MUM!"

Unfortunately for him, someone did hear... not that he knew this at the time. He was much more preoccupied with trying not to become a splatter on the pavement below.

That someone smirked at Danny's shout and hoped he'd remember to torture the teenager with this later... right after he'd saved him.

Carefully pocketing the device, he swooped downwards before catching Danny bridal style in his strong arms. It was a strange sensation knowing he literally held this teenager's life in his hands. He looked quizzically down at the boy, not looking forward to the moment Danny realised who his saviour was... and that moment came all too soon when Danny's eyes snapped opened and connected with his deep crimson ones.

Okay, so he wasn't falling any more but he now found himself hopelessly draped in his arch-enemy's arms. He wasn't sure which one he preferred more but his next action seemed to indicate the former as in a blind panic he flung himself out of Vlad's hold and regrettably found himself hurtling towards the harsh concrete once again.

"Daniel!" The man impulsively shot downwards, catching the boy this time by his outstretched wrists. "You stupid boy! Do you really want to know what happens when a human hits concrete from this height?!"

"Why can't I change back?!"

Ignoring the boy's question, the older hybrid allowed electricity to flow out of his fingers and into his rival's dangling form, forcing the boy to scream once again in excruciating pain. The teen then found himself unable to cling to consciousness any longer.

Now content Daniel could not try another suicidal escape attempt, Vlad tossed his enemy's limp body over his shoulder before taking of towards the skies but not without thinking how easy it had been to simply take young Daniel away from the location of the vision. Something told the older hybrid that this was most probably just the beginning.

* * *

Upon depositing the young hybrid he had been carrying in one of his spare bedrooms and making sure he had also placed a tray of food on the bedside table, Vlad made his way to his own room before collapsing on his four-poster king sized bed. He could have slept for days after the last couple. Who would have thought that a couple of days ago he had woken up wondering what to do about a certain half-ghost and now he had said hybrid penned up a few feet away?

… In a room he could escape from at any moment.

Cursing himself for his carelessness, the billionaire quickly made his way to his own high tech laboratory where he knew he'd find the controls for the mansion's ghost and human shields. The man positioned his hand above the activation button when he decided to re-adjust to it's perimeters to the room where Daniel currently was. At the moment, he really couldn't be bothered dealing with an angry teenage hybrid and keeping him in his room would avoid any confrontation before Vlad decided he was ready for it.

He rested his hand on the button which made his mansion hum at the shields being brought to life before the whole house was plunged again into silence.

Now he was happy he could sleep through until morning without interruption from a certain teenager he'd kidnapped the night before. Quickly remembering the gadget he'd used that night, he delicately retrieved it and placed the Plasmius Maximus on the lab table in front of him, genuinely pleased at how useful a device it had turned out to be.

He then programmed his shields to disregard his own ecto signature so he could easily get to the boy in the morning and retired back to his own bedroom for the night.

He really did need to recuperate his energy that he'd used in the past couple of days and he couldn't think of any better way than to let his head hit the pillow and catch up on a few lost zzzs.

* * *

The first thing Danny was aware of when he awoke from his voltage induced slumber was the warm feel of bed covers against his cold skin. Still in a daze he pulled the satin sheets over his dizzy head and nuzzled into the wealth of fluffy pillows that seemed to surround him before yawning and stretching out every single tired muscle in his body. He was now splayed quite happily over the plush covers. Groaning himself awake, he turned over to lie on his back whilst his mind subconsciously prepared for the impact with the carpet at such a move but it never came.

His instincts now told him something was wrong. He only had a single bed and moving around as he just did would have surely catapulted him off the edge. So why was he still wrapped up in those warm satin sheets.

Wait. Satin?

Danny's sapphire eyes instantly shot open. What he saw only confirmed his suspicions. He wasn't in his own bed.

Hastily trying to untangle himself from the lavish bedding he was now wrapped up in resulted in him doing what his mind had braced for a few moments ago. He landed on the springy carpet with a loud thump which only disorientated him even more.

Now free from his duvet prison, he looked around the ornate room he found himself in. Blaring sunlight blinded him from the three oversized windows which reminded him of those you might find in a church or chapel. The bright light bounced of the deep blue walls and the mahogany oak furniture which leant against them, filling the teenager with a sense of dread as he realised something more.

This was not his house.

Pressing his hand against his aching forehead to numb the throbbing he wondered what in the world had happened the night before. That's when he remembered. The flying... the falling... and...

"Plasmius!"

That was why the décor was so posh, the bedding so comfy. It was luxurious because it belonged to Plasmius! He was in Plasmius' house! The fruit loop actually had the nerve to kidnap him! Okay... he knew his arch nemesis was crazy but to kidnap him?! Vlad had really done it this time!

Not thinking that his enemy would have probably done something to stop his escape, Danny transformed into his alter ego, secretly pleased that he now had control of his powers again before marching up to the middle of the three windows and phasing through... only to wish he hadn't.

Choking back a yell from the jolt of electricity that passed through his skin, he staggered back into the room.

"So he doesn't want me to escape that way then..."

Angry at himself for not thinking Vlad would have probably foreseen his escape attempt that way, he walked over to the bedroom door and opened it.

As he stepped over the threshold, he let out another gasp at the second electric shock he received within a matter of minutes.

Now he was pissed. Who did Vlad think he was to think he could keep him caged up in a single room like some animal?!

Then an idea hit him.

"Duh. Ghost powers!"

Turning intangible he attempted to phase through the floor only to be halted in his tracks by the familiar sharp shock he received. He tried the ceiling but had the same results.

"He really doesn't want me going anywhere.. Like this anyway."

Maybe his ghost half couldn't get past the shields but that didn't mean to say his human half couldn't! Deep down he knew Vlad wouldn't make it that easy for him but it was worth a try.

He let the two white rings wash over him, replacing ghost with human, swallowed his fear and stretched one hand out towards the invisible electrified forcefield.

Again he had to suppress a scream as the electrical current passed through his veins. Though this time it hurt ten times more due to his more fragile human state.

"I've got to get out of here..." Danny mumbled whilst doubled over in pain.

Honestly, he had no idea how he was going to achieve that when he couldn't even leave the room he was in. Who the hell did Vlad think he was?! More to the point, why was he here?! What did Vlad want with him?! He shivered as he thought about the last time Vlad had snatched him... what if the evil man intended to try to clone him again? He shook his head on that last thought. He had destroyed the disturbing laboratory and he was sure it would have taken his enemy a lot longer to fix that.

He hobbled back over to the bed, thinking again how he was going to escape. Right now, that was the most important thing, he could figure everything else out when he got home.

As he looked around the large room, his eyes fell on a single plate of food, cheese, biscuits and juice from what he could see. Mostly likely laced with something. Quickly agreeing that he was not about to eat it and was not going to give into his grumbling stomach, he thought about a way to contact someone. Namely Jazz, Sam or Tucker. He didn't particularly want to bring them into this but right now he didn't think he had any other choice. He was completely powerless from this side of the forcefield... he would need someone on the outside. But how was he going to contact them?

His eyes suddenly widened in realisation. He wasn't. He had absolutely none of his belongings with him. No mobile, no laptop and a quick search of the room also told him there was no land line in here.

All of his anger boiled over at learning he truly wasn't going anywhere and was now at the mercy of his arch enemy. An arch enemy he really wanted to punch right now. Fortunately for Vlad, he wasn't in the room with him at the moment so he'd have to take out his anger on the next best thing. The man's belongings.  
In a fit of rage the young teenager ignored his protesting body and fired his ectoblasts in random directions around the room, leaving what was once an expensively decorated dormitory now a rubbish heap of cracked bed posts, shattered mirrors and broken cabinets.

Danny was unaware that his antics had captured the attention of the room's owner.

* * *

The torrential rain that stabbed the ghost's skin did little to take his focus from the ghastly sight in front of him. The ectoplasm that oozed from above him mingled with the downpour until it soaked him to the core. Looking upwards and towards the green torrent, he let out a blood-curdling scream when he noticed exactly what was causing the rain to turn a sickening green.

Every drop spilled from a body dangling mercilessly above him but the further he went towards the body, the further it was pulled out of his reach until it was dropped and catapulted straight through the ghost's waiting hands. After wrenching back his hands, he gasped in horror at noticing they were now stained red with blood before noticing the body had crashed to the ground below him.

Diving downwards, he reached the lifeless form and turned it quickly over so that he could see who it once was. The green eyes, the black and white jumpsuit, the insignia plastered on his chest... it was what he had feared... it was...

"DANIEL!"

Vlad's eyes shot open, his staggered breathing slowly calming at noticing it had been a nightmare. But it had felt so real!

He gripped his hair tightly with one of his shaking hands as he tried to figure out where he was. A quick analysis of the room told him he was still in his bedroom, sprawled out on his bed. He also noted by the sunlight penetrating through the windows that it was now daytime outside and he had indeed managed to sleep through most of the night. But now he definitely wished he hadn't. That had almost been worse than when he had seen it the first time. He had been so powerless...

He squeezed his eyes shut as the room moved around him in an attempt to stand up. After a few moments, he walked forwards and opened his eyes, now content he wasn't about to fall over from the sudden blood rush.

What did all this mean?! What was he supposed to do?! He had saved the boy, had he not?! Daniel was now away from Amity, away from... everything. So why was he still being plagued with nightmares and visions?! It was not fair just how much the boy affected him... and his death... well he knew what has been seen cannot be unseen.

He suddenly stopped when he realized where he had been walking towards. Daniel's room. Daniel...

He quickly worked out exactly why he had ended up here and it wasn't to get into an argument. No... his conscience just had to know that Daniel was still alive. But he was being stupid! It had been a nightmare!

Is this what the great Plasmius has been reduced to? A paranoid, quivering wreck all because of one vision that may or may not even be true! After all, he had no recollection of the ghost he had seen torturing Daniel the first time round. The only thing that did seem vaguely familiar was... his black and white décor... and it pointed to... well, Danny.

But it couldn't have been Daniel! Daniel was under his roof. No. Daniel had fallen straight through his hands...

Shivering at the memory, he focused once again on the mysterious entity or more like figuring out who or what it was.

Who would have wanted to waste Daniel?! Okay, well apart from almost every ghost he had ever come into contact with... Maybe he should rephrase the question. Who would have been powerful enough to do it?! It sobered him when he thought that truthfully the only answer he could think of to that question was... himself.

So either it was a ghost he hadn't had the privilege of meeting yet or it wasn't real and now he was determined to know which. A plan quickly formed in the man's ingenious mind. Vlad might not know who this mystery ghost was but he was sure that Daniel would, if the fact that it seemed to instil fear into his young rival's very core was anything to go by.

A loud crash coming from nearby quickly pulled him out of his thoughts. He fisted his hands by his sides in realisation of who had more than likely caused it.

"Curse that boy's short temper!"

He really couldn't leave the teenager alone for two seconds could he?! He really didn't want to get into an argument with Daniel at this point, his body still hadn't fully recovered... but from what he could hear, Daniel's anger might make that impossible. At least his body had recovered enough to deal with his young foe.

Determined to both get answers and 'calm' Daniel, he stomped to the room where he had deposited the teen and virtually pulled the bedroom door off it's hinges only to get even angrier when he saw the state of the room inside! Daniel really had done a number on it and who knows how much and how long it would take to repair it!

Speaking of the young hybrid, Vlad noticed he was still completely oblivious to his presence and was still quite content destroying the bedroom he was in. Vlad would soon fix that.

He concentrated his energy so that it was powerful enough to stop Daniel from what he was doing and fired it. The bolt made contact with the middle of the teenager's back before Danny yelled at the surprising pain he now felt coursing through his body.

Impulsively turning human from the pain, Danny dropped to his hands and knees provoking the boy to turn round to try to fathom what had just caused him that much pain! Although deep down he knew even before his eyes came to rest upon the ghost now floating a few feet in front of him.

"You." The boy's answer was almost a grunt as he stumbled to his feet. Honestly he didn't know how much more pain he could take. He had already been brutally shocked about six times in the last twelve hours and had now been the victim of a powerful ectoblast. Add that to the fact that the wound on his shoulder was still aching slightly and that he had stupidly used a lot of energy pointlessly destroying the room … well it was no surprise the boy's body was close to surrendering to unconsciousness... again.

"Did you really expect anyone else?"

Danny glared at the man. Truthfully, he hadn't really expected anyone else after he remembered what had happened last night and seeing the plush room he'd woken up in. But he could have hoped right?

"Or maybe you expected your Mum?"

Danny's glare hardened further at the man's obvious reference to his cry the night before. It was going to take a lot for Vlad to drop that one. All the teenager wanted to do right now was blast the man smiling in front of him into the ghost zone but his tired body really left him at a disadvantage. It still didn't stop him from attempting to punch the billionaire square on the nose.

Unfortunately for Danny, Vlad had anticipated the punch and caught it, leaving him dangling at the mercy of the older hybrid. Not that Vlad was a very merciful person as he sent Danny careering over the other side of the room before he collided with, what used to be, a bedside table. The same table that held the food he had placed there the previous night, he noted the food was untouched.

"You know, I would have thought your parents would have taught you to have more respect for other's property," Plasmius hissed as he fired another blast at the younger hybrid.

"It made a good substitute for your face."

"Really Daniel? I save your life and that's the first thing you think of?"

Danny scoffed at the man's response. Okay, so he had saved him from becoming part of the pavement. What did he want, a thank you? He certainly wasn't going to get one. Especially when the man had probably caused him to fall from the sky in the first place. The teen remained silent.

"Well my boy, you'll have plenty of time to think about everything in these four walls now, hmm? I assume from your little tantrum that you've already discovered that you aren't going anywhere just yet."

That did it. Danny was not about to let this man get away with kidnapping him and laugh whilst he did it. He was going to make Plasmius regret bringing him here or his name was not Danny Phantom. For now however, he would have to play Vlad's little game.

"Are you really that lonely that you have to resort to kidnapping children? Seriously, the cat is a much easier option."

"I. WILL. NOT. GET. A. CAT."

Danny had to stifle a giggle at his rival's response. Oh, the man's loneliness was definitely still a sore spot all right.

Vlad meanwhile, rubbed his temples after his outburst. Danny could still anger him like no other could, not even Jack. Taking a deep breath, he turned his attention back towards the teenager opposite him, "I didn't bring you here to take part in useless banter Daniel."

"So what then?! What is it Plasmius? Why am I here?! Do you really expect me to believe that you were just in the right place at the right time last night?"

Honestly, he wouldn't even believe the truth if Vlad did tell him, and Vlad knew this. Telling him the truth would also reveal a side of him he was quite content to keep hidden from the world. Daniel would never know how much Vlad cared about him, even if it slapped the young boy in the face each day. This thought saddened the older hybrid but he quickly pushed it to the back of his mind when he saw young Daniel attempt to get to his feet to continue his bombardment of questions. The young ghost only held his aggressive stance for a second however before a dizziness overwhelmed him as he staggered backwards and fell, crashing onto the carpeted floor.

Vlad subconsciously bit his bottom lip. The boy must have been tired. _Or hungry. _How long had it actually been since Daniel had eaten anything? Or perhaps his body just couldn't take much more of his assault. He grimaced at that last thought.

"You're weak Daniel." Vlad anxiously pointed out.

Daniel's eyebrows shot up at hearing genuine concern in his rival's voice. He was sure he hadn't imagined that. But that was a bit too hypocritical of the man to be suddenly showing concern seeing as he had been pelting him with ecto energy not too long ago.

Not pondering on it for too long he calmly replied, "I'm fine."

Vlad took a deep breath. Daniel was so frustrating! The boy could have been dying and he would still have said he was fine!

"You haven't eaten the food I gave you."

Danny slowly got to his feet, using the half destroyed bedside table behind him for support and met his arch-enemy's gaze before ignoring the last comment and repeating, "What do you want from me Plasmius?"

Vlad replied soberly, "Nothing." _Just your love_ he added in his head. Knowing it was pointless to say this though he continued, "I only want answers that you're going to give me."

"You think that I'm actually going to answer them? Dude, you are a seriously crazed up..."

"Finish that sentence and you'll regret it."

"Fruit Loop." Danny finished defiantly.

Vlad gritted his teeth in anger with the boy's daring.

"Make me regret it then." The younger hybrid challenged, taking up a defensiveness posture, wobbling a bit as he did so.

"You can't even defend yourself." Vlad sneered.

The older hybrid advanced on the younger before stopping a few feet in front of him. Daniel still hadn't made any move to attack him. Clearly he was waiting for him to make the first move.

It was now or never in the older hybrid's eyes. He would have to catch Daniel off guard for the teen to show his true feelings regarding the evil spectre and if they threw banter and empty threats around for much longer he was sure he would forget his aim of finding out who exactly this evil ghoul was, or whether he was real.

He drew a deep breath and threateningly asked, "Daniel, what do you fear the most?"

Sure enough, Danny was completely taken aback by the question and the glimpse fear in his eyes reflected everything the older hybrid dreaded to be true. There was something this boy feared above everything else and now he was determined to know exactly what it was...

"Or should I say who?"

If possible at this point, Danny's eyes widened even further. Vlad knew! But that was not possible! Vlad couldn't know about... _him. _Or rather, _them. _It was possible though that Vlad didn't know and was simply trying to play with his emotions or intimidate him. Better to play the fool.

"What are you talking about?"

"It is a simple question my boy, who or what do you fear the most? Judging by your recklessness and daring around me, I highly doubt it is me. So go on. What is it?"

"You don't even come close Plasmius."

"So there is something?"

The two stared at each other for what was an eternity before the younger abruptly broke Vlad's gaze and looked towards the floor to conceal his flash of green eyes. He then repeated bitterly, "You don't come close."

Danny suddenly aimed a powerful ectoblast at the man in front of him, and not having expected such an attack, the blast hit the older hybrid square in the stomach, sending him flying straight into the wall behind him. Danny winced at seeing the dent the older hybrid had made. He hadn't actually intended to make his attack that powerful and his protesting body confirmed the attack was indeed powerful when he had to suppress a wave of nausea at using so much energy when he was this bruised.

Knowing it was pointless to apologise, not that he wanted to anyway, he calmly waited for a counter attack, not caring how dangerous it was to anger Vlad in his current state. This was some sick game Vlad was playing. The topic that Vlad was daring to touch upon, he did not want to speak about. Heck he didn't even speak about it to his friends if he could avoid it! He certainly wasn't about to tell Plasmius everything.

Vlad also knew that Daniel was not about to tell him anything. But his reaction to his question already told him everything. Daniel was terrified of something and he was now pretty sure he knew what or who it was. He didn't want to believe it but the teenager who had just forcibly catapulted him at 200mph into a solid wall had just confirmed his vision's validity.

Upon recovering from the unexpected attack and holding back an urge to pummel his young enemy into a pulp, Plasmius transformed back into his human form and quickly got to his feet.

"I don't know why they scare you so much Daniel," he said, "but believe me. I will find out." The billionaire turned to leave the room before adding as an afterthought, "And Daniel? I know it's hard for you, but please try not to act so childish in future."

Fear and anger now swelled in Danny's gut. This man had no right to intrude on his personal life like that! And what would happen if he did find out about... _him_? Without thinking, Danny released all of his anger he kept stored at thinking about Vlad, his lack of escapes, _him._

"I am a child Plasmius. You want one? You got one. And everything that goes with it." With that Danny shot a blast with the last of his strength at the middle one of the three windows, causing it to shatter and fire deadly shards towards the half ghosts. Now completely human and out of power, Danny braced himself for the sharp glass that was certainly going to be the end of him. He couldn't turn intangible to avoid it now. Okay, maybe not one of his better ideas. Instinctively he ducked and cradled his head in his hands and waited. Waited for what would be an unbearable slicing pain that never came.

Daring to blink his eyes open to see whether he had actually survived or had just imagined it, he realised someone was shielding him... and had turned him intangible. He didn't get much of a chance to appreciate still being alive as upon turning tangible again, Plasmius grasped his young nemesis by the neck and lifted him clean of the ground. "You really do have a death wish, don't you?"

Sputtering for breath, Danny choked out, "Let.. m.. me... go."

"Mark my words Daniel, if you keep insisting on acting like an animal, I will treat you like one. And yes. That was a threat." With this, the man roughly dropped the young hybrid before leaving the room without another word.

Meanwhile, the angry teenager he had left behind gasped for precious breaths. It wasn't his close call with death though that was making him hyperventilate. It was what Vlad had touched upon. He had managed to block out those memories for so long and now Plasmius had gone and brought it all back to the surface. He didn't know whether he could go through thinking about it again! Especially when he was currently under the same roof where it all happened, and with the same man it all happened with. He shivered at these thoughts which brought his attention to the shattered window opposite him.

He hadn't even thought about what he was doing when he destroyed the window, he had just been so angry! Now he did think about it though as the cool outside breeze raced through the window and wrapped around his dishevelled body. What was he thinking? He had almost killed himself! And his arch rival had just saved him for a second time! But that's just it. He hadn't been thinking. Not about that.

He looked towards the ceiling in his desperation and found himself thinking about someone who he met when he found out about _him._ Someone who had saved him from his horrible future. Someone who no doubt knew exactly what was happening to him right now.

"Clockwork... help me."

* * *

As the sun rose over Amity Park, the three remaining members of the Fenton household busied themselves with breakfast which consisted of one boiled egg each, accompanied by wholemeal toast and low-fat spread. Jazz had recently been insisting that their family ate healthier and had taken it upon herself this morning to make sure of it, against the protests of her father.

The ping of the toaster notified all three that breakfast was now ready and so, the two parents and their daughter sat down to a very nutritious first meal of the day.

It didn't take Jazz long however to become aware that her father was simply prodding the breakfast around the plate. Typical. Cook the man a delicious meal and he sticks his nose up at it. Go buy him some sticky, unhealthy fudge and he'd devour it like there was a world-wide shortage. It was times like this when she wondered whether the man sat opposite her really was her father.

Maddie had also noticed her husband's lack of interest in the food in front of him. Unlike her daughter though, she had lost hope a long time ago that he would suddenly become a fitness fanatic. Not that it really mattered to her. She loved her husband just the way he was, belly and all. His carefree attitude had actually been what attracted her to him all those years ago in college. He just didn't seem to care what other people thought of him, whether through naivety or general joviality, it was still a rare quality to find in people now a days and it was one she treasured.

So now, she couldn't stop herself from reaching into the back of the fridge to locate his 'emergency fudge supplies.' Well she couldn't see him go starving, could she? True that looking at him, he'd be able to survive a fair while longer than most without feeding but the joyous smile on his face when he realised what his wife was doing made it worth it.

"Now that is real food," Jack commented upon a plate of fudge being deposited in front of him.

Jazz couldn't hold back her look of disgust and slight defeat at seeing he had already hoovered half of the plate.

"Unlike you, I know someone who will appreciate my new healthy eating menu," Jazz decided as she excused herself from the table.

"Jazz, I don't think Danny's awake yet."

Turning around at hearing her mother's voice, Jazz looked down at her watch before rolling her eyes when reading that the time was half past nine. All her brother's heroics really were affecting him. Normally he had at least stirred by this time but this morning she had yet to hear any sound coming from his bedroom. She would have to talk to him about his sleep patterns later. But for now, she simply sighed as she sat down again next to her father, who had by now finished his 'breakfast' and was excusing himself.

"Jack dear, where are you going?"

"To the lab Mads! Where else?!"

With this, the man bounced out of the kitchen and bounded down into their basement lab, leaving Mother and daughter alone at the table.

"Mum, I really think he should at least try a nice nutritious meal."

"You should know your father by now. The day he eats something healthy will be the day when that Phantom kid turns good."  
Jazz cringed at her mother's response. If only she knew that 'that Phantom kid' was her own son and the reason why he wasn't at breakfast at the moment was because he was doing nothing but good. She wanted more than anything for her parents to know the truth but she also understood why she couldn't tell them. She could ruin everything for her brother if she came clean and she wasn't about to do that to him.

Sensing her daughter's obvious discomfort, Maddie asked, "Sweetheart, is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine mum!" Jazz quickly realised the defensiveness of her outburst before quickly reiterating her response in a calmer manner. "I'm going to go upstairs and complete that psychology essay."

"Okay love, just don't wake Danny. I'm sure that Lancer is giving him too much homework to make him this exhausted. Either that or he's staying out too late with Sam and Tucker and for his sake I hope it's the former."

Quickly pecking her Mum on the cheek, Jazz excused herself once again before making her way up the stairs but instead of going to her room she strayed towards Danny's room. She knew that like most teenagers Danny could sleep well into the afternoon. But unlike most teenagers, Danny was also half ghost and lived a very dangerous lifestyle. Jazz knew she was over protective to constantly check that her brother was okay but she couldn't seem to help it. She often peeked her head round his bedroom door most mornings to see that everything was okay, much to the annoyance of her brother, and this morning was no different.

Upon reaching his door, she quietly creaked it open and poked her head through the opening.

"Danny?" She softly called.

After gaining no response, she opened the door further, only to open it fully when she realised he wasn't there.

"Danny?!" She called a bit louder, but not too loud that she would capture her parent's attention.

Accepting that her brother was definitely not in his room, she strolled in and to be sure, checked his en suite, to no avail. She shouldn't have been too worried, normally she would have thought that Danny had just been woken up early by some annoying ghost. However, there was one problem with that theory this time and that was the fact that his bed had definitely not been slept in. The sheets were still tightly tucked underneath the mattress. Yes, it looked like someone might have been on it by the creased duvet covers but definitely not in it.

Quickly retrieving her phone she dialled Danny's own whose number she had on speed dial.

_Ring ring. Ring ring._

Dread swelled in the pit of her stomach when she realised she could hear Danny's phone buzzing behind her. Hoping it was just her imagination, she turned her head in the direction of the noise only to swallow a lump that had by now made itself at home in her throat at confirming that his phone was indeed on the bedside table.

Now she was worried. She had insisted that he took his phone everywhere with him, as had Sam, and he had always obliged. He never left home without it. So now she was left contemplating where her brother could have gone without his phone. The only time he didn't take it was when a ghost had caught him quite by surprise... what if... a ghost was responsible for her brother's absence? Or what if it was a half ghost? Vlad had come to visit him the night before after all. But she couldn't jump to conclusions.

Although her gut told her something was definitely wrong, she told herself that he might have just gone to Sam's or Tucker's and had simply forgotten to take his phone. It was possible right?

"Please be with Sam and Tucker..." She anxiously whispered as she located Sam's number first and waited for her to pick up.

On the fifth ring the goth girl did exactly that, although by her response, was a bit surprised at seeing who had called her.

"_Jazz? Is everything okay?" _The worry in Sam's voice was evident. Jazz wouldn't just call her to have a social chat.

Getting straight to the point Jazz asked, "Sam, is Danny with you?" Her face however tensed further at hearing that Danny wasn't with his best friend and that she hadn't seen him since their patrol of Amity yesterday day time.

"Danny didn't come home last night Sam... I'm going to try Tucker."

"_Won't he pick up his mobile?"_

"He hasn't got it."

Before Jazz could get another word in edgeways, Sam had insisted that she was coming round to Fentonworks to meet her. Jazz knew it was pointless to argue. She also knew how much Sam cared about her brother, and vice versa, even if they were too embarrassed to admit to themselves.

After she had the same results with Tucker as she had with Sam, Jazz found herself pacing her brother's bedroom awaiting the arrival of Danny's two best friends. Now she definitely knew something was very wrong. Danny wouldn't worry them all like this on purpose... he never liked to burden anyone with his problems and would much rather pretend everything was okay than run away without telling anyone. Her sisterly instincts told her that Danny hadn't runaway though. He just wouldn't turn his back on his family, his friends and his town if he could help it and although the thought made her squirm, she knew her brother would sacrifice himself first before any of the above.

Sam and Tucker arrived shortly after she had phoned them. At hearing the bell go, she crept to the top of the stairs and looked on as her mother answered it.

"_Hi, Mrs Fenton... we're here to see Danny." _

Jazz kept in a sigh of relief at hearing Sam's reasoning for turning up on their doorstep on a Sunday morning. She knew that if they said they were here to see her, well that would only make her Mum suspicious and Jazz did not want her parents to know anything until she had figured out exactly what was going on.

She forced a weak smile at seeing Sam and Tucker making their way up the stairs towards her and then led the way to Danny's bedroom.

"We have to be quiet. I don't want my parents suspecting anything just yet."

"Where's Danny?" Sam asked as soon as she had closed the door.

"I don't know," Jazz replied timidly, "But I think I know who might."

Sam and Tucker's eyes lit up at hearing Jazz might have a lead.

The older teen took a deep breath and prepared herself for the reactions her next revelation would provoke. "Vlad came to visit him last night."

* * *

Clockwork looked away from the shimmering orb at hearing Danny's plea and towards the two Observants, also present in the clock tower.

"Do you not know how dangerous this is Clockwork?! How is pushing them together possibly going to save humanity?!"

"Do not fear. I know what I am doing."

Letting out a sigh of defeat, the Observants stated, "For your sake, and for theirs, we hope you do." With this, the two one eyed beings left the time master alone with his thoughts.

So far his plan had worked. The elder hybrid had, as he predicted, taken Danny away from Amity and was now providing him shelter in his Wisconsin home. He also knew the man's mind would want to know exactly what he was dealing with before he launched into things and judging by the argument he'd witnessed, Vlad had also sussed that the evil ghost he had seen had something to do with Danny.

What had surprised the Time Master though had been how quickly Vlad had forgotten about the orb that Clockwork had placed at his feet and how he had acted to kidnap Danny so impulsively, almost looking like he had completely forgotten about the younger's friends who he knew had already discovered Danny's disappearance.

True enough, Clockwork could see over all time, and yes, he had prompted Vlad to chose this particular time line, but he hadn't expected him to take the hint so quickly. Maybe he wasn't the only one who felt like they had a responsibility to save Danny? He had shown Vlad the future, knowing that he would want to protect the young half-ghost but had thought it would be because Vlad wouldn't want to lose his only hope at having a half-ghost son. Not because he might actually care about Danny.

It was an interesting thought but one he didn't linger on as he brought his thoughts back to the distressed young half-ghost he could see in his viewing orb. He knew Danny would do anything to not confront his evil future again but unfortunately Clockwork knew Danny had no choice. It didn't seem right that the boy before him had so much to deal with at such a young age. At least this time, Danny wouldn't be the only hybrid to face it if the Time Master had anything to do with it. After all, it was the future of two individuals, not just one even if the older half-ghost didn't know it yet.

He turned his attention back towards the orb which was now showing three teenagers, two girls and one boy pacing young Daniel's bedroom. It didn't take a genius to figure out what they were talking about.

Clockwork sighed again. He had hoped he wouldn't have to do this. That the older hybrid would have covered his tracks a bit better. But alas, being the Time Master, he knew it was a possibility that he would have to directly interfere with the time line and as much as it pained him to lie to the three teenagers, he knew he couldn't have them interfere at this point. If they did, they would only seal their friend's bleak fate which in turn would seal the fate of all humanity.

Abruptly, the Time Master vanished from the point on which he was standing. The orb that was left behind now beheld Clockwork also in the image with the three teens, placing special medallion's around each of their necks.

"Who are you?!" The ginger haired girl blurted after Clockwork had put the medallion on her first.

"Clockwork." Sam answered her in realisation of who had just put a medallion around her neck.

"Who is Clockwork?!" Jazz asked fearfully.

"Clockwork is the one who saved us the day when Danny cheated on his test." Tucker stated, now unfrozen.

All three internally cringed at the thought of that day before Clockwork pulled them out of their thoughts.

"My visit is not a social call."

Sam furiously marched up the the spectre floating in front of her before demanding, "Where's Danny?"

"Danny is safe."

Not completely happy with his answer, Sam continued, "Where is he?"

"He is with me."

The trio all looked equally astounded by Clockwork's answer. Clearly they were not expecting that.

"And if you set your sights on Wisconsin, you are wasting your time. You will not find him there."

Jazz started shaking her head at the revelation. "But Vlad... he was here... I was sure that.."

Clockwork turned his attention towards Danny's sister. "Jasmine, I know how much you pride yourself on your intelligence. You had every reason to believe that the older hybrid had something to do with Danny's disappearance but this time he did not."

Sam broke the silence that now coated the room, "Why is he with you?"

Reading the underlying question, the Time Master calmly repeated "He is safe with me."

Clockwork then hastily removed the medallions and looked regrettably at the three, now frozen, teens in front of him. Once again, he had cheated. His employers wouldn't be happy, not that he cared that much what they thought. But he could not have Danny's friends take him straight back to Amity. Too much needed to happen before then and he knew it would now that Jazz, Tucker and Sam no longer believed Danny was with Vlad. Now, like his employers, he could sit back and watch for a while.

"Time in."

The Time Master at once vanished and left the three teenagers again alone in Danny's room.

"Now what?" Sam asked.

"Nothing." Tucker answered. Upon receiving a glare from Sam he continued, "Sam, Danny trusts Clockwork. We all know that. Plus, he actually did save us a while ago too, or did you forget? I think it's time that we trust him. He wouldn't hurt Danny."

"And I trust Danny. If Danny trusts this Clockwork, then that will have to be good enough for me." Jazz completed.

Sam stared at the two in front of her. "I don't like it."

"Sam, can't you be thankful that Danny is okay? That he's not with Vlad or some other evil ghost?! We should be grateful!"

Sam turned away from the other two and was about to leave the room when Tucker stopped her. "Where are you going?"

The violet eyed girl immediately spun round and virtually shouted at her poor friend, "aren't either of you wondering why he is with Clockwork? Think about it. The last time Clockwork interfered was when he prevented Danny's evil future. He just wouldn't interfere unless something bad was happening and if something bad is happening then we need to be with Danny!"

Lifting her hand to her eyes to try to hide the tears now threatening to stream down her face, she turned round and just stood facing the closed door whilst the two other teenagers looked at her, worry etched on each of their faces. Neither said anything though because truthfully, this time, they didn't know what they could say.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

So, another chapter down! All the characters introduced and being flung full force into the story... well almost all the characters :P. He might not make an appearance until a couple more chapters down the line though... sorry about that! But good news is that means there's a lot more room for Danny/Vlad Father/Son interaction! Hurrah!

...And what a naughty Clockwork hehe! Always bending the rules... a bit like a certain older hybrid we know!

Anyway, I look forward to hearing your thoughts! Until next time!


	5. Fruitless

**Author's Note**

Hi everyone, I hope a slightly delayed update didn't drive too many people away lol! Yeah, sorry about that! It's been so hectic recently in my little life so this one is quite short (don't hurt me!) but I'm hoping the next time I update it will be with a long juicy chapter hehe!

Love to all my readers and reviewers! I thought authors were over exaggerating when they said they got a buzz from reading reviews but I now know they're not! So thank you so much for reviewing and sticking with me :').

_Disclaimer: I don't, and never will, own Danny Phantom_

* * *

On the corner of the metal table sat a small, spherical object, it's natural reflective surface enhanced by the piercing examination lights that bounced of it's exterior and illuminated the naturally dark room with individual swords of dazzling white light. The sphere had a slight sterile smell as a result of the numerous chemicals it had been exposed to in the past hour. None though had succeeded in penetrating it's harsh outer shell, rather they had all simply rolled down the sides and spooled out onto the steel counter.

Engrained on the top of the sphere was a C and a W, intricately intertwined, their pattern only now noticeable due to a red liquid which had seeped down into the two letters and now swum gracefully in the elegant symbol.

The orb itself was currently glowing a blinding white due to the smouldering flame that currently hovered above it but the fire appeared to have no permanent affect on the object. The excruciating heat only served to enfeeble the man currently positioned in front of the sphere. His heavy panting accompanied the beads of sweat that he now wiped from his brow which beforehand had been dripping down the sides of his face and splashing into the pool of chemicals below.

After several minutes of squinting at the blazing article and accepting that he was not getting anywhere, he reluctantly retracted the flame and switched of the garish artificial lighting which immediately made the orb dim and plunged the room into darkness.

The only thing that now penetrated the gloom was the heavy breathing of a frustrated man who was now pacing the dark laboratory in front of the sphere. Deciding he no longer wanted to make a chasm in the flooring, he retrieved a pair of tongs, clamped them around the orb and manoeuvred it into a small black box sat to the side of the examination table before slamming down the lid and turning on the everyday lighting.

If his angry stare which was now directed at the box was tangible, it probably would have already drilled straight through the sides of the metal case and shattered the orb inside. Unfortunately, his glare did not possess such qualities. It was, however, able to produce highly condensed ectoplasmic rays which he directed at a couple of beakers opposite him. This simple release of energy though was not enough to expel all of his anger that currently boiled inside him at being outsmarted by an inanimate object.

No longer caring for the overbearing smell of sterile chemicals that flooded his nostrils, he turned on his heels and headed for the bolted door behind him but not without sparing one last menacing glance back at the black container. He was not finished with it yet. He would find out exactly what it was or his name was not Vlad Masters.

* * *

"_It is only a matter of time..." _

Danny shook his head vigorously as he looked out of the broken window. _His _voice had been plaguing him ever since his and Vlad's argument. Even though he had been strong enough to beat him once, he was still out there, still alive. A living reminder of what he could become. Whose to say he wouldn't come back? Whose to say he hadn't prevented that future? That it was still possible that he...

Swallowing back his trepidation, Danny turned and headed for the half broken bed behind him. He quickly snatched the covers and folded them carefully around his quivering body. He was so weak it was no surprise Vlad had 'won' their last argument. Not to mention he was now freezing thanks to his stunt earlier in the day.

He now found himself looking over to the destroyed bedside table, beside which rested the untouched food Vlad had brought him the night before. His stomach grumbled in protest. Every inch of his being yearned for food right now and who was he kidding? If he didn't eat, he would just become weaker and then he definitely wouldn't be able to escape and give Vlad a taste of his own medicine.

He reached out towards half a biscuit that rested against the foot of the crumbled table and gingerly placed it in his mouth. That felt a lot better. It didn't take long until he had hoovered almost all of the food that had been left for him.

"_I'm still here... I still exist... That means you still turn into me." _

He suddenly gritted his teeth in determination. "I promised my family..." he seethed, consciously repeating the words he had spoken in that alternate time line. The haunting voice belonged to someone that had severely endangered his loved ones, loved ones that he would now fight for every day. He supposed he should be grateful that Clockwork had given him a second chance. After seeing the Nasty Burger explode and thinking for just a nanosecond that he had lost them had driven him enough to fight for what was right every single day of his life, knowing that if he didn't, there was a very real probability that he would lose everything... again.

He would have to fight for what was right now. And what was right was not lounging around in his arch enemy's house. What was right was escaping and getting back to Amity to protect the people that needed him.

The determined and spirited young ghost was not going to give up. He had fought too long and too hard for that. Most importantly, he was not going to give Vlad the satisfaction that he had won. He was not going to wait around until he suddenly became useful in whatever Vlad's plans were.

But then, how was he going to escape? Clockwork had completely ignored his plea for help even though the young half ghost was certain that the Time Master, his mentor, knew exactly what was happening to him at this present moment in time. It almost felt like a slap in the face that someone he trusted had virtually outright refused to help him. The only person who stood a chance of knowing what was going on had abandoned him. In that moment Danny realised he was alone. He would have to escape by himself.

He punched the floor he was sat on in anger causing him to instantly grimace at the throbbing pain now making itself at home in his knuckles.

He had already discovered that even trying to leave the room would result in him getting brutally shocked and he had no way to contact his friends or family. He could take the risk that they might find out what had happened by themselves but he wasn't sure he wanted to just wait for them to turn up. Plus, he wasn't content playing damsel in distress. So what was he going to do?

A thin wisp of blue smoke escaping his mouth distracted the teen from his thoughts as he turned his attention to where he felt the ghost. He craned his head towards the broken window but from his current position on the floor, he couldn't see who or what had triggered his ghost sense. Various thoughts raced through his mind. He hoped it wasn't Skulker. He knew Plasmius and Skulker were 'allies' so it was plausible he would be here in Wisconsin but the last thing he needed was for the 'Ghost Zone's greatest hunter' to find him in his compromised position. Then again, he supposed the forcefield kept ghosts out as well as in. Except Plasmius. A deep growl emitted his throat at that last thought. Figures Vlad would make sure he was the only one who could get in and out of the room.

Taking a deep breath, he rose from his comfy cocoon and made his way back over to the broken window, hoping to gain a glimpse of what had triggered his ghost sense. He guessed he shouldn't have been surprised at who he saw but he was. He instantly recognised Plasmius' attire, even from behind.

He kept his beady, now neon eyes fixed on his enemy as the man hovered several metres below the window, expecting some banter or an ectoblast aimed in his direction but to his surprise, neither came.

Danny was about to open his mouth to start the verbal tug-of-war they frequently played only to abruptly stop when Plasmius instantaneously bolted away from the mansion wall. _Weird. _He was sure Plasmius didn't have anything better to do than to make his life miserable, so why had he just completely ignored him?

The young hybrid didn't have much time to contemplate many reasons for his enemy's strange behaviour as a couple of minutes later, he could see Vlad flying back speedily towards him... except this time, he was cradling something in his arms. Danny squinted hard to try to make it out but all he could tell was that whatever Vlad was holding was small and most likely quite delicate, seeing as Vlad seemed to be treating it with great tenderness.

_Must be some sort of weapon which he's probably going to use against me, _Danny thought as he kept his gaze locked on his older foe, hoping to gain some sort of recognition from him. But again, Vlad completely blanked him.  
Danny reluctantly retreated back into the room, his thoughts now focused on whatever it was Vlad was carrying. Whatever it was, the young halfa was sure it was bad news and something told him that it was related to him somehow... or that Vlad was going to use it to hurt him somehow.

That did it. He was not going to be a sitting duck. He was going to get out of here or his numerous foreboding thoughts would drive him insane. He knew getting out would be no easy feet but he was not going to be treated like some animal!

"_Mark my words Daniel, if you keep insisting on acting like an animal, I will treat you like one. And yes. That was a threat."_

Unless...

Well if acting like an animal was the only way he might stand a chance of being let out of this room then so be it. Even if it was a slim one.

* * *

Finally out of the clinical laboratory, the billionaire welcomed the fresh air that now swept into his lungs, savouring every bit before he let it race back out in an lengthy exhale.

He supposed that he should probably check on his guest. See how he was... or see if he could get any more information from him... by force if necessary. But he quickly decided against it. Seeing Daniel right now was not what he wanted to do. What he wanted to do was to find out more about that blasted orb. Or whoever had put it right under his feet.

It had to be a ghost, a human couldn't just sneak up on him like that. Plus, what human had the ability to foresee the future for that matter?

Then again, how could he not have sensed a ghost was nearby? So it had to be a human? Or neither?

His sporadic thinking abruptly took a sharp left. CW... CW... what did that mean? Vlad knew it was important to figuring out exactly what had happened that morning but he didn't know how so. It must have stood for something, initials perhaps? But who had those initials? He was pretty sure he didn't know of any ghost or human with them. Then perhaps it was a symbol? Or a warning of some kind? Gah! All this was just too confusing, even for a man with a brain big enough that it shouldn't actually be able to fit inside his average sized head. He was missing something! But what was it?!

Vlad didn't even notice he was scratching his head in frustration until he noticed a sharp stinging sensation coming from where his nails had been digging in. He quickly retracted his hand before walking over to one his many bathrooms and inspecting the damage in the mirror there.

Just like before, he was greeted with a none too pleasant image. Huge bags hung from his eyelids and his skin was a dull red colour from the exposure to such intense heat levels in the laboratory. If possible, he looked worse than when he had looked into the mirror on that fateful morning a few days ago.

Shrugging it off, he inspected the top of his head and was silently relieved that he hadn't drawn blood, not that it would have mattered too much anyway.

Not knowing what else to do at this present moment in time, he made his way to the kitchen and poured himself an oversized glass of $500 champagne before chugging it backwards in a very uncouth fashion. When the glass appeared to have emptied much too quick for the man's liking, a pink bolt of electricity overwhelmed it as it shattered causing little shards to fall to the ground around his feet.

Something that was neither ghost nor human... If CW were initials then it could be that this character was in fact a different species altogether. The thought circled round and round Vlad's mind. It wasn't possible. But then again, a ghost-human hybrid shouldn't be possible, yet here he was. Here young Daniel was.

It was the only logical explanation wasn't it? He would have sensed a ghost and a human wouldn't have been able to magically place the object at his feet in the first place. The only other explanation was that time must of frozen for a couple of split seconds for the orb to be placed under his feet. But that. Now that was definitely impossible!

He suddenly slammed the kitchen work surface in anger. This was stupid! His thoughts were not getting him anywhere! Even if such a creature did exist, he had no idea where he would find it!

The billionaire quickly sobered as he realised that for once, he didn't have all the answers and he did not like it.

On the other hand, what he did have was Daniel. Alive and well in a room where nothing bad could happen to him and no one could get to him.

Maybe it was now time to focus his thoughts on the teenager upstairs. Or more like how he was now going twist the current situation to suit him. He may as well try to convince the young hybrid that everything he could ever need or want could be provided with him. He would teach him... be a father to him.

For a second a smiled ghosted across his face at this thought but it quickly faded. Daniel had already made it clear that he would never join him by choice and at the moment he didn't have anyway of making him. Plus, he couldn't keep him in the upstairs room forever. It would only be a matter of time before his pesky friends showed up and...

"BUTTER BISCUITS!"

He had completely forgotten about them! They were probably on their way to rescue their friend at this very moment!

Everything just seemed to be going from bad to worse for the billionaire. Didn't he deserve a break?! Clearly he wasn't going to get it. But it was his fault really and he knew it. His overwhelming fatherly instincts towards the boy meant he didn't stop to think of how he was going to cover his tracks. Heck he had even completely forgotten about the orb until this morning and he was lucky that he was able to find it.

Another couple of champagne glasses that were left on the counter found themselves reduced to shards after becoming the next victims to one of the man's powerful ectorays.

Jazz had seen him the night before he had taken her brother! She would have almost definitely pieced two and two together.

He had to get Daniel out of here. They could not find him and they definitely couldn't take him away from him but Vlad knew that neither were possible if they couldn't even find young Daniel.

Maybe it would be best to keep his friends busy too... just to be on the safe side. And he knew the perfect ghost to do this. Skulker always seemed to get under their skin, well that and Skulker was one of the few ghosts that ever put up much of a fight if the need arose.

So move Daniel... hire Skulker.

A malicious smile formed on Vlad's lips. Even when he didn't have much time, he could still put together a half decent plan of action. The older hybrid wasn't particularly an arrogant man but even he could appreciate his wonderful mind.

Before contacting Skulker however, something told the man to check up on Daniel. He had been too quiet and knowing Daniel, that wasn't good. It was probably nothing but he had to be sure.

Phasing through the ceiling, he found himself standing outside the room which contained his young rival. Firmly grasping the handle, he opened the door.

"DANIEL!" He couldn't hold back a cry of shock at seeing Daniel, human Daniel, writhing on the floor in pain, clasping his throat in agony as he tried to desperately gasp for air.

Vlad bolted towards the boy, not caring when Danny attempted to bat him away.

"Daniel, what's wrong?!" He asked frantically as he tried to figure out a way of helping the suffocating teen in front of him. "What happened?!"

After gaining no response other than a few more rasps which were painful to listen to, he bent over to scoop the young hybrid in his arms only to mentally curse himself when he realised that Danny could not leave the room.

"Daniel, I'll be right back." Truthfully, he didn't want to leave Daniel like this but he didn't have much other choice. He had to put the shields down and get Daniel to his laboratory where he could figure out a way to help him.

It only took him a few seconds to reach the laboratory and get back to the room but those seconds were long enough for his mind to conjure up mentally scarring images. In that small amount of time, everything he had seen in his vision, his nightmare came flooding back to him. Holding Daniel's lifeless body, not being able to help him... He would not go through that pain again. Daniel was, for the moment, alive and so help him, he would do whatever he could to make sure it stayed that way.

Daniel was not going to die.

As if to prove him wrong, when he arrived back at Daniel's room, he found Daniel completely unconscious and eerily still on the soft floor a few feet in front of him.

"DANIEL!" He cried in fear for the second time that night but all that greeted him was the echo of his own voice.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Ooooohhh Cliffhanger! My bad! Yep, I know what you're thinking - filler chapter! Yes it was, but a necessary one I think! Anyway, I'm missing a bit of action and I'm sure you guys are too so no fear! That will come in the next chapter... Hopefully haha!

Look forward to hearing any thoughts you may have - good or constructive! Adios for now!


	6. A Cruel Sense of Humour

**Author's Note:**

Okay, I can't tell you how many times I re-wrote this chapter so I am really happy that I am finally satisfied and able to post it!

As always, thank you to the people who have reviewed and any other readers out there! Reading your lovely comments makes me think why I didn't sign up to this website sooner lol!

Anyway - I won't delay you anymore - Enjoy!

* * *

Five hours, thirty six minutes and seventeen seconds...

It's surprising how humans can be totally unaware to time passing one second and yet so focused on it the next. Some say it is better to be aware of the passage of time because at least then we can make sure to use what is given to us the best we can. However, maybe it is sometimes better to be oblivious. At least then, we do not look back and regret the moments we wasted watching it.

Five hours, thirty seven minutes and fifty two seconds...

We probably shouldn't complain when time passes us at an agonisingly slow rate. It gives the sweet illusion that we have more of it than we actually do.

Five hours, thirty eight minutes and four seconds...

However, we know it is just the human mind that creates this reality to comfort us. No matter what we do, whether we watch the seconds tick by or chose to simply ignore it, it will pass at the same constant rate that it always has done. Relative. It's all just relative.

Five hours, thirty eight minutes and forty seconds...

For one man, his mind had created this illusion as he watched the seconds tick by but for him, it was anything but comforting. Time couldn't have been going any slower than it apparently was at this present moment as he sat, his eyes flickering from the motionless boy lying on the metal table in front of him to the clock on the wall opposite him.

Five hours, forty minutes and twenty two seconds...

That is how long it had been since he had discovered the teen crying on the floor in agony.

Shaking of the memories, he wrenched his gaze from both the clock and the boy. He had hoped something would have happened by now. Something should have changed! So why hadn't it?

He mentally slapped himself for letting his paranoia get the better of him. Daniel was probably just taking his time waking up, being infuriating as always. Why was it that even unconscious, Daniel somehow found a way to annoy him?

But then he couldn't be sure that he would wake up... what if...?

No that couldn't happen. It wasn't supposed to happen, not like this.

He scoured his brain for any other way he could think of that would help the teenager but drew a blank. He had tried everything he could think off. He'd gone so far as reversing the effect of the Plasmius Maximus to force Daniel's change into Danny Phantom in the hope that his ghostly genes would help him heal. After the first couple of hours passed though and Danny changed back to Fenton, he was still completely out of it. In a last ditch attempt, he'd even injected Danny with some of his own ectoplasm, thinking it may help the healing process along. Sort of a blood transfusion for ghosts. But this still appeared to have no affect.

What was the point in being as brilliant as he if he couldn't even figure out what was wrong with Daniel or how he could help him?!

His brain paused on that last question. Actually, there was a way he might be able to help him. He was sure that there was a ghost somewhere in the ghost zone that might be able to help him. But that would mean leaving the safety of his own home. Daniel would be extremely vulnerable if he did that.

Just as he was mulling the idea over in his head, a shallow breath instantly captured his attention. It was different from all the others that the unconscious teen took. It was... louder? The billionaire quickly turned his head in the direction of the noise, his eyes widening when he saw the young hybrid's eyelids slowly start twitching.

"Daniel." Was the only think he could think of to say. He had spent so long preparing for the worst that his brain hadn't actually been ready for this.

The voice sounded so close and yet so distant to the young hybrid, almost like an echo that doesn't bare any actual importance and yet it is still there. For some reason, the voice did seem familiar to Danny but he did not seem to be able to recall why that was, nor did he want to. For now, he was quite happy to stay within the realms of his own mind.

Gaining no response, Vlad gently shook the teenager to which Danny answered with a grunt and a moan.

"Daniel?"

The voice seemed more persistent this time, almost tinged with desperation? But why would this voice be desperate for him to wake? Danny saw no urgency that he succumb to reality. He was perfectly content. Why couldn't the voice just leave him alone? But then maybe whoever was calling his name knew something he didn't?

"Daniel?!"

There was the voice again, a little louder this time. Maybe he should just give in. Maybe he should just see who it was calling Daniel over and over again...

Wait. Daniel? Only one person ever called him Daniel.

Abruptly jolting himself awake, he snapped his eyes open, much to the surprise of the billionaire bending over him. Seeing the older man hovering above him only confirmed what he so reluctantly wanted to believe. He was in the hands of the enemy. And his arch enemy no less. Perfect. Why couldn't he have woken up in the box ghost's lair instead? At least then the worst that could happen was that he would get trapped in a cardboard box for a few hours. What Vlad could do to him though didn't bare thinking about. All of his fights with the man ended with him coming off noticeably worse. Sure he had thwarted his rival's plans time and time again but that didn't mean he was more powerful.

It was then that Danny noticed just how weak he felt. What had happened? He felt like he had gotten hit by a four by four and then run over at least ten times by a bus. Add that to the fact that his throat was now burning and you had a very unhappy hybrid.

Disregarding his compromised position for now and how he got here, he automatically went on the defensive as he struggled to find a way of getting away from the loopy man. That was more important right now than trying to figure anything else out.

Not quite strong enough to summon his ecto energy, he did the second best thing and forcefully brought up his fist so that it made contact with the man's face, earning a cry from the shocked older hybrid.

Okay. Now he was really in trouble. He had just punched a psycho billionaire with ghost powers that was now probably out for his ecto blood. Good going Fenton.

_Right. superhero time Danny. _The teen clung onto what ever ghost energy he had as he tried to let the familiar sensation of defying gravity overwhelm him. He hastily threw himself in the air and off the table only to crash to the floor rather unglamorously a few feet away.

_Well that could have gone better, _the teen thought to himself but having been very used to crash landings, it didn't take him long to get to his feet and make a dash for the door.

Only problem being that he had left one very pissed hybrid in his wake who saw exactly what the younger was doing and didn't hesitate to expel a powerful ecto blast so that it hit Danny square on the back.

Danny was flung forward through the air before landing and violently skidding across the ground from the impact of such a hit. Did he mention that he hated his fights with Vlad?

Thinking quickly, he brought up an ecto shield with what remaining energy he had. It was inevitable right now that Plasmius was going to win and probably beat him to a pulp. But he was going to delay it as long as possible. So now, as he lay under his shield, he braced himself for an attack from his arch rival. An attack which came in the form of a barrage of pink ecto blasts which seemed to rain down on him for what seemed like forever. Danny found he was forced to drop his shield under such an assault but before the barrage could hit him, he crawled speedily out of it's way and towards the door. If he could just make it to that door, he might be able to escape!

Seeing the teenager still ever determined to get away, Vlad sighed and sent forward three duplicates to block all his escape routes. He watched as Danny appeared to be assessing his situation. Why, he had no idea. It was obvious he was not going anywhere. Danny looked as pitiful as a mouse which had been cornered by a cat.

"Daniel, stop this right now!"

Danny didn't even process what the man had just said. Only that he seemed angry. He had to get away! But how, when he was now effectively cornered and had little to no energy?! Wha...

"DANIEL! LISTEN TO ME!"

The booming voice demanded attention which Danny gave it this time as his eyes locked with Vlad's.

Seeing Daniel was indeed now going to listen, Vlad breathed a sigh of relief.

"Daniel, do you not remember anything?"

Danny blinked in bewilderment at the question. It had stumped the young hybrid. What did he remember? He remembered waking up and seeing the billionaire crouching over him. But that couldn't have been it. What about before then? It was a big blur... His attention focused back on his throat which was still burning but it also reminded him of something.

"I... I couldn't breathe..." he rasped out.

Vlad let his duplicates dissipate at seeing Daniel finally seeming to come to his senses. Concern flitted across his eyes for a brief second at seeing the teen grab his throat after speaking. It brought back images of how he had found Daniel almost six hours ago. Not pleasant.

Danny meanwhile was trying to collect his thoughts. All he could seem remember was not being able to breathe and being terrified that he was going to die. He had been certain that he was going to die! But he clearly didn't... because... because... He looked upwards at the now singular Vlad towering over him.

Vlad.

Vlad had been there! All rational thinking left Danny's mind as he couldn't think of anything apart from how much he wanted to thump the man in front of him... again. Vlad must have caused whatever had happened! Vlad was always the cause of anything bad! Vlad was sick! He was deluded! He had tried to clone him! He had tried to kidnap... No wait. He had kidnapped him! He was here because Vlad had kidnapped him! Suddenly, everything that had happened in the past couple of days came flooding back to the teen, waking up in Vlad's mansion, their argument, his escape plan gone wrong. Well maybe, not so wrong. He started to properly notice his surroundings for the first time. At least he was out of the guest room! It was a start. But not enough! He was still in Vlad's home!

He suddenly opened his mouth, not fully aware himself what insults were going to come out of it, only to gasp and shut it again when a sharp pain erupted from the centre of his throat.

Seeing Daniel gasp as he opened his mouth worried and confused Vlad further. What was wrong with Daniel? He impulsively walked towards the teen but this only earned him a death glare from his young foe. Vlad could almost feel the anger radiate of the boy and so he backed down almost instantly. This didn't mean he was going to leave Daniel alone though. Rather much the opposite. He had to get answers out of Daniel and he would get them even if it took all day and by force if necessary. There was just so much that didn't add up! Who put the orb at his feet? Did Daniel know them? What was Daniel petrified of? Who was that evil ghost in the vision? What the hell happened to Daniel six hours ago? What was his own role in all this?! These questions would drive him insane if he didn't get the answers soon and he was pretty sure Daniel could provide some of those answers.

The billionaire cleared his throat to speak. Thinking Plasmius was mocking him made Danny even more angry as he fired a weak ectoblast at the man which Vlad easily dodged.

Plasmius sighed, exasperated. "Daniel, get this into your thick teenage skull. I am NOT going to fight you... unless you force my hand. So stop attacking me!"

Danny's glare remained but he halted the flow of ecto energy to his hands. Vlad had said he didn't want to fight. He did not trust the man but if he was telling the truth then there was no point in trying to injure him at the moment. It would only result in him being beaten into unconsciousness. This didn't mean he was going to let his guard down though as he stumbled to his feet, using the wall behind him for support. He had to be ready in case the fruit loop tried anything, which Danny had no doubt he would.

Being careful not to put any strain on his voice, Danny uttered in a soft but angry whisper, "What have you done to me?"

"Really Daniel? Must you always assume the worst of me? Believe me, as much as I am rather enjoying not having to deal with your sarcastic teenage attitude at the moment, I have not caused your lack of voice. If I did, you would not be speaking at all."

Danny's eyes widened at Vlad's comment but he decided to remain silent as he tried to make sense of it in his mind. Something told him that Vlad was telling the truth. He did remember Vlad being genuinely shocked when he found him. If he didn't know better he could have thought Vlad was concerned. Fortunately he did know better and disregarded that last thought.

Vlad pinched the top of his nose at seeing Daniel's hurt expression. Maybe he shouldn't have added that last part? Too late now he supposed.

Getting straight to the point, Vlad asked exactly what he had been wondering for the past six hours. "What happened Daniel?"

He couldn't tell him. Seeing Vlad wasn't content with no answer though, Danny sighed and looked down to floor as he muttered, "I don't know."

Vlad rolled his eyes at the boy's answer. Everything about Daniel at that moment screamed _I'm lying! _"Honestly my boy, you really are a terrible liar."

_Damn. _Lying really was something he was going to have to work on. Vlad had seen straight through him within seconds! Then again, why should it matter if Vlad knew he was lying? The man had no right to be demanding answers from him in the first place! Come to think of that, all Vlad had been doing since kidnapping him was pestering him and demanding to know anything and everything. What was Plasmius up to? Whatever. Danny was now quite content that he was not going to answer anything. Plus not answering might make the crazy man leave him alone. He doubted it but it was worth a shot.

It only took a couple of minutes of silence for Vlad to figure out exactly what Danny was doing.

"Honestly Daniel! What do you expect to achieve by not answering me?! That I will simply get angry and leave you alone?!"

_You just hit the nail on the head, _Danny thought to himself. Instead of saying this though, he simply stated "Yes."

Vlad rubbed his temples at young Daniel's response. This boy was infuriating and yet he still felt obliged to help him!

"I am not going anywhere until you tell me exactly what happened. So to save us both a lot of time, why don't you just stop sulking like a child sooner rather than later and tell me?!"

Danny gritted his teeth in response. Vlad always had this way making him feel half his age and this really annoyed the young half-ghost. Almost as much as when Vlad called him his 'little badger.' Almost.

It took Danny a lot of effort to swallow his anger and still remain mute.

At this, Vlad realised he would have to change tactics if he was going to get anywhere with the teen. This line of questioning obviously was not working and the threat of physical violence was pointless. As much as it saddened the billionaire, it was obvious that Daniel simply did not care any more how much he got used as a half-ghost punching bag. Safe to say, he was probably used to it with all of his heroics.

"You know Daniel, I'm sure your friends and family are worried sick about where you are right now."

Sparing a glance in Daniel's direction and seeing he had definitely just hit a sore spot, he smirked as he relished his little victory. Daniel's friends and family would always be his weakness. It was just too easy!

"Are you not worried about how your absence might be affecting them? Darling Samantha I'm sure is putting up a hard front but is probably crumbling on the inside. Mr Foley is most likely blaming himself for not being able to find a solution as to where you are. Jasmine is no doubt doing the same. And your dear parents. Well I can see sweet Maddie will be crying her eyes out every night over the loss of her son with only that fat oaf to comfort her... that is if he has even noticed you're missing..."

Vlad was interrupted when Danny blindly lunged at him in his rage, though Vlad anticipated the attack and stepped out the way, wincing slightly when Danny crashed painfully into the wall behind him. He only hesitated slightly however before he marched up behind the young half-ghost and forcefully kept him pressed against the wall, using his arms as a vice.

"If I were you Daniel, I would want to put an end to their worrying sooner rather than later," he hissed into his young rival's ear. Tightening his grip, he continued, "So I'd suggest you cooperate because until you do, you are not going anywhere and you will only prolong not only your suffering but theirs as well. Is that what you want?"

"You're twisted," Danny muttered.

Vlad forcefully let go of his younger counterpart and seeing Daniel slouch to the floor in defeat, he grinned as he stalked to the other side of the room. "I prefer manipulative, or perhaps resourceful. Now what happened?"

"I couldn't breathe..."

Vlad restrained himself from exploding at the boy's response. He already knew that! "We established you couldn't breathe! What I want to know is why! What did you do to cause that? Was that thing you irrationally fear involved?! Did it hurt you?! What happened?!"

"NO!" Danny shouted back but instantly regretted it afterwards. His throat started burning as if a thousand needles had been plunged into it. Instinctively he clutched it with both hands as he doubled over and struggled for precious air, precious air that just didn't seem to be there. He felt his vision blur as he sunk into darkness, the excruciating feeling in his chest begging him to lose consciousness. As he began to lose his grip on reality, he became aware of a cry, tinged with desperation as it shouted his name which was shortly accompanied by pressure to his forearms as two firm hands took hold of him. The cry soon started to form complete sentences, which, to Danny, sounded like some sort of command.

"Da...- Stop...- Breath...- Stay sti...-"

He couldn't quite understand everything it said but he did gather the words 'stop' and 'breath.' Stop breath? It sounded like it wanted him to stop his desperate attempts to gather air into his imploding lungs. All his survival instincts went against this but something told him to listen and so he closed his eyes and held his breath for one second... two seconds... three seconds... four... He really couldn't do this for much longer... five seconds... six seconds... He felt so heavy... seven seconds... eight...

All pain abruptly ceased.

"Now breathe Daniel. Slowly."

He complied. The sweet air that rushed into his lungs couldn't have been more appreciated than it was at that second in time. He would never take oxygen for granted again.

Time seemed to stop as Danny savoured each breath that slowly made it's way into and out of his body. It was only when he suddenly felt the pressure from his forearms disappear that he finally opened his eyes to come face to face with his... saviour? Wow. This was starting to become a habit. And not one he liked.

Just like Danny, Vlad also let oxygen rush into him for a few seconds as he let sweet relief wash over him before he realised he was still holding onto Daniel using more force than necessary and at once, realised his tight grip.

The two hybrids stared into the other's eyes for a few moments before the elder broke Danny's gaze.

"You know Daniel," Vlad sigh heavily, "I know it wasn't your damaged vocal cords that caused that, you shouldn't ever be that scared of something." Seeing Daniel still concentrating on his breathing, he added, "and I won't always be around to save you."

Danny exhaled a few more times and establishing it was safe to use his voice at a whisper again, he uttered, "I didn't need saving."

To this, Vlad tossed his head back and laughed. "Not from where I was standing dear boy. You really need to control that temper. It is definitely going to be the undoing of you some day." Seeing Danny open his mouth to protest, the man quickly added, "And might I suggest you don't raise your voice again? It would save us both a lot of time and trouble."

Danny slowly shut his mouth again and slouched further against the wall if that were possible. Vlad was right. Raising his voice and shouting wouldn't accomplish anything. Wow, he hated it when Vlad was right. Maybe telling him what he had done... or tried to do a few hours ago would also save him time... and maybe Vlad would let him go if he could see he was trying to cooperate. If he didn't the crazy old man had already made it clear that he was not going to let him go. All he wanted to do right now was get back to Amity or he would go insane with no-one but Vlad to talk to and the best way to do that was to try and appease the evil man. Plus in the state that he was in at the moment, he would never be able to fight his way out. He couldn't even will his transformation rings to make himself go ghost. And what was the worst that was going to happen? Vlad would get angry and possible pummel him into unconsciousness. Whatever Vlad could do to him, he was sure couldn't be as bad as what had happened just minutes ago.

"I... wailed."

"I beg your pardon?"

Danny sighed and suddenly became very interested in the floor. "You want to know what happened..." he stated so that it was hardly audible, "I'm telling you. I used my ghostly wail. Or tried to anyway."

Vlad's eyebrows shot up at Danny's explanation. Was the boy insane?! He had witnessed the force of that attack in his laboratory after the cloning incident. He knew the destruction it could cause! Using it in a standard house... well mansion, could have unsettled the entire foundations and brought it to it's knees!

"Why would you attempt such a thing Daniel?"

Danny was careful to not raise his voice as he sneered, "Gee Plasmius, I don't know. Maybe I don't enjoy being kidnapped and treated like an animal? Or maybe I was just bored? You pick."

Vlad quickly swallowed his anger at Danny's sarcastic retort. This wasn't important right now...

"Daniel... what went wrong?"

Danny was abruptly taken aback by the question. Did he hear him correctly? No ectoblasts? He had fully braced himself for Plasmius' wrath... or at least an argument. He knew how much Vlad hated that attack and his attitude!

"I...I... Don't... I don't know..." He stuttered, still slightly confused as to how he was still in one piece.

"Your ghostly wail, as you call it... it is a vocal attack, yes?"

Danny nodded in agreement.

"Then clearly when you tried to execute it a few hours ago, something went wrong and damaged your throat. It is right that your throat would be this painful if it did somehow backfire seeing how powerful that attack is... as I know having witnessed it first hand." He glared at Danny on this last part. Yes, he did want Daniel to know that he was angry. But he also didn't want an argument at the moment. He had to get to the bottom of all this and to do that he had to swallow a bit of his rage.

Danny returned the glare but at the same time tried to understand what Vlad had just said. It made sense he supposed... but why didn't his wail work?

Unbeknown to the young hybrid, Vlad was pondering the very same thing. What could have gone wrong? The boy might just have been inexperienced and used it incorrectly? But then surely Daniel would not have used it at all if he knew there was a chance that might have happened... and under his own roof no less... No. Daniel obviously did not expect this to happen.

It was Danny though that voiced what they were both thinking. "What went wrong?"

A mixture of surprise, happiness and annoyance crossed Vlad's face at hearing Daniel ask this simple question, if this combination was possible. Surprised at hearing Daniel speak, annoyed that he had been distracted from his own thoughts but happy that Daniel seemed to be relying on him for the answers... Plus the fact that the teenager didn't seem as set on starting World War Three now was always a bonus.

As much as he wanted to say he had all the answers, this time he couldn't. For some reason he also didn't want to lie to Daniel this time... Even if it was only one small question, Daniel still seemed to be putting his trust in him for some bizarre reason and he didn't want to betray it. He knew more than anyone how much it hurt for someone to betray your trust... If he ever had a chance of gaining a half-ghost son, he knew he would have to do whatever he could to get him on side.

Vlad exhaled a deep breath and looked soberly at Danny before replying, "Your guess is as good as mine Daniel... If you want my advice, I would not use that attack again for a while..."

"When do I ever want your advice Vlad?" Danny whispered angrily.

"You may not want it Daniel but I suggest you take it... Unless you want to turn your throat inside out before you're even supposed to be mu... die."

Danny hitched his eyebrows and intensified his glare that always seemed to replace any other expression when he was with Vlad. "Was that a threat?"

"Unfortunately not."

Danny's eyebrows creased further in confusion at his rival's cryptic answer. Realising it would take him years to understand the workings of Vlad's mind, he quickly let it go over his head as he muttered, "Fruit loop."

Ignoring the insult, Vlad momentarily forgot that Daniel had heightened hearing and, in his frustration, whispered quietly to himself, "What am I going to do with you Daniel?"

Taking it upon himself to reply even though Vlad clearly didn't expect one, Danny suggested meekly, "Take me back to Amity?"

"I can't do that."

"Why not? Ever since I woke up in your creepy mansion all you've done is confuse the hell out of me which, by the way, is very annoying and it's not funny."

Vlad sighed before looking upwards and stating, "Sometimes the world has a very cruel sense of humour, Daniel."

"The world is fine." Danny sharply retorted. "It's you whose got the problem."

The elder hybrid rolled his eyes at Danny's response. That was typical Daniel. They were just going round in circles and he wasn't any closer to getting any of the answers he so desperately craved. As much as he wanted the answers to his questions right now, he realised it would perhaps be best if they re-started this conversation in a few hours time.

He looked down as a deep rumbling sound emitted through the room, frowning when he saw Danny suppress a snigger. Why is it that some people find a rumbling stomach so funny? One of the many mysteries of life, he supposed.

Vlad rested a hand on the offending body part. Maybe food would help him think better? At any rate, it would give him an excuse to leave and get his head straight. Deciding to address his grumbling stomach he straightened and announced, "I'm going for dinner Daniel, you are, of course, more than welcome to join me. However, as I know you will not and will most likely use this time to try to escape, I should let you know that the ghost and human shields are up around the whole house and my ghost portal is shut. See you shortly."

Upon these words, the billionaire turned and took his leave, leaving behind a very confused, tired and angry hybrid.

Gah! Life was so not fair! Why did the only other ghost-human hybrid have to be seriously crazed, deluded, weird, insane, psychotic... Well the list went on and on really. And yet... And yet. Danny still wasn't sure exactly how he felt about the elder hybrid. Sure he was all of the above but... there was something about Vlad that he just didn't understand. One minute he would be torturing him and the next he would be saving him. Who does that?! Who can treat someone so differently from minute to minute? Only a fruit loop, clearly.

Danny shook his head as he thought about the man. Vlad was probably one of the most confusing people he had ever known! He could spend ages sitting and trying to figure him out but knew he would never get anywhere, so why even bother?

The teen sighed and feeling a tinge from his throat at the action, he automatically started to massage it with his hand. Yes. Life was definitely out to get him. If the fact that his crazy arch-enemy had kidnapped him wasn't enough, he now couldn't raise his voice above a shallow whisper without it hurting. And what was worse was that he didn't have any idea why his ghostly wail had backfired like this, let alone how he was going to mend his vocal cords. He guessed he would just have to wait and see if they would heal naturally... well with the help of his ghostly healing abilities.

His gaze wondered around the laboratory he was in. From his position, he could clearly see the table he had woken up on and next to it, another with what looked like a Bunsen burner sat in the middle? At least he thought that was what it was. He never really did like science. He quickly established by the multitude of scientific instruments that were positioned above, next to and below this table that it was clearly the one where Vlad carried out his experiments... and the one he had woken up on must be the one where he would restrain people, namely him. He shivered at that thought.

He recognised some of the equipment from when he had been... cloned. He still got grossed out by that thought. He did like Dani and all but seriously, being cloned? Bit creepy. He guessed Vlad had managed to salvage some of it from the wreckage his wail had left last time... If only he could leave a nice little wreckage this time but his aching throat quickly reminded him that wasn't an option. Last time, he also had the help of Sam, Tucker and Dani afterwards. He didn't think that if he destroyed Vlad's home this time that he would be so fortunate for his friends to show up and ram Vlad with the Speeder before the man could react. His friends really did have impeccable timing.

No, he was by himself at the moment and he would have to rely on his brain and only his brain to get him out of here. Which at the moment was looking like an impossible task. Shields were up... Portal locked... Vlad probably watching his every move. Yep. He concluded for the second time that evening. Life was not fair.

Pushing himself away from the wall, he decided he may as well take a look around. He paused as his waited for his vision to sharpen. Wow, he was weak. Maybe joining Vlad for dinner wouldn't be such a bad idea? That thought didn't last long though. He had to get out of here; see if he could find anything to help him. Namely a phone. A phone would be good right now. He walked over to the table where all of the scientific equipment was. It looked like the most likely place where there might be something to help him, even if it wasn't a phone.

After establishing that he didn't understand what most of the stuff did, let alone how to use any of it he withdrew from the table. That was when he noticed a black box by the side of it. How did he not notice that before? There probably wouldn't be anything in it that could help him but he figured it was worth a look.

Firmly grasping the sides of the lid, he yanked it forcefully upwards and when the lid came off without any resistance, Danny was sent catapulting backwards onto the hard floor, lid in hand.

Looking around, he breathed a sigh of relief at realising Vlad didn't see that. Quickly recovering, he placed the lid on the table and peered down into the box.

His eyebrows hitched when he saw what was inside. A small sphere. It was most peculiar. What was it? He didn't know why but he just want to reach out. Touch it. He just wanted to touch it. It couldn't do him any harm, right?

He slowly extended his arms down and into the black box and towards the sphere...

"DANIEL, NO!"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Admit it. You all love a cliff-hanger! _*Tumbleweed* _Okay. Sorry about that. But hey, I need to do something to keep you guys reading :L.

I feel like I really want to publically reply to reviews to let you know just how much I appreciate them, do people like it when authors do that?

Ruby 1334: Hehe, you may have to suspend disbelief for this story! You'll find out my reasoning for Dan wanting Danny dead a bit (lot) later and as for Vlad and Clockwork, well I assumed the opposite! Clockwork is just so elusive! Thank you so much for your continued support and multiple reviews! *virtual hugs!* Ps. Don't kill me for another cliffhanger XD.

SunnyDay23: Thank you very much! I hope you stay with me!

Lioness Deity: "Your wish is my command!" Hehe

Jaddis: Haha, no worries - I have no life too :P. I think I just love Vlad in general! I am so grateful for your continued support of this story and reviews! *Hugs!*

Pearl84: You make me blush! Thank you so much! Ps. Update Endgame soon?! haha.

Ghost Guest: Thank you, thank you, thank you! Just thank you!

DramaticAngel17: Aww, well I love finding reviews like this lol :P

History101: Yup, Vlad is definitely my favourite character too - always has, always will be. I wonder, does he have a fan club? I'd join :P.

Thank you for everyone else who reviewed! I only answered the most recent ones but from now on I will try and reply to every review :).

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!


	7. Falling Apart

**Author's Note**

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas and are now enjoying the new year! I will apologise straight away for not updating in about three weeks... Christmas has been so busy as I'm sure it has been for everyone! Plus I rewrote this chapter about three times, such a dedicated writer :').

Anyway, here's the final product! Enjoy :)

_Disclaimer: I still don't own DP._

* * *

Vlad had scarcely made it half way to the dining room before he doubled back and retreated back towards where he had left the youngster. His paranoid thoughts had meant he couldn't stand the thought of Daniel being in the laboratory on his own... with the ghost portal. He could escape at any moment! Okay, he couldn't. He'd locked it. But still he didn't want to take any chances.

As he made his way back towards the lab, his brow furrowed. He really was losing it. Daniel was making him lose it big time. Since when was the great Vlad Masters reduced to a babysitter?! Okay. He knew exactly when but that didn't mean he was happy with it. Normally he wouldn't be so paranoid but at the moment, if he could wrap the boy in bubble wrap and stick him in a padded cell, he probably would.

Unknowingly, he came upon the same conclusion as his young rival. Life was not fair... and this was one particular notion the billionaire was very familiar with. Now, if there was one thing Vlad didn't believe in it was fate. If fate had it's way, it would have left him at the bottom of the rubbish pile and spat on him for good measure after his college 'accident.' He had fought for everything he had after that. He was pretty sure fate wasn't planning on him overshadowing billionaires to pull himself out of the ground. Life was definitely what one made of it according to the billionaire. But no matter whether fate was real or not, something or someone had given him the opportunity to save the young hybrid and he was not going to let it slip through his fingers all because of a stupid little mistake of leaving him alone.

What he was going to do when he got down to the laboratory was simple. He was going to make Daniel come to dinner with him or threaten his friends and family. Simple as one, two, three. He knew the young half-ghost probably wouldn't appreciate being told what to do. He was as stubborn as a mule when it came to defying him at every chance he got, but he also knew he would never do anything to endanger his friends and family. They were the perfect leverage. It was just too easy. Plus the food would definitely do the child some good.

So imagine the horror on his face when he descended the stairs and saw his young rival reaching down into the black box... the black box that contained...

"DANIEL, NO!"

Danny had barely registered Vlad's return as his fingers brushed against the smooth surface of the sphere, nor did he realise that Vlad was now staring, wide-eyed and panicked at the spot where his body had just hit the floor.

The teen didn't notice anything apart from the suffocating blackness that had taken hold, squeezing every ounce of oxygen out of his lungs. Just how many times was he going to suffocate today? He was suddenly jolted from his attempts at breathing as a force started to push him downwards, sucking him into the darkest oblivion. What was happening to him?! One minute he had been in Vlad's laboratory and the next he was, well no-where. It was like a giant, airless vacuum. It scared him to think that he'd rather be back with Vlad right now. Anything was better than this.

Just as he clenched his eyes shut, trying not to think of the fate he had resigned himself too, he felt a softness under his hands and feet. Not yet opening his eyes, he squeezed clumps of the felt-like texture underneath his hands, rolling it around to try and fathom what it was. It was so familiar. Just as he blinked his eyes open, he realised he was lying face-down on grassy soil. Quickly rolling over onto his back, he assessed his surroundings. A crescent moon shone in the dusky sky, cascading light around where he lay, casting great shadows all around him. Shadows?

He stumbled to his feet and gulped when he realised where he was. Headstones littered the ground, worn and battered through the effects of time. Many were no longer standing, even those that were looked like they were going to give into the downwards pull of gravity at any point. It was clearly long forgotten, just like the dead who rested underneath the stones. Danny couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy at this last thought. No-one had visited for a long time and the teen couldn't help but think why.

Trying to find answers to the many questions that were circling around in his head, he completed a full turn and realised that this was Amity Park's graveyard. How did he end up in Amity? Was the orb some sort of teleporting device? Whatever. If he was in Amity, that meant he wasn't in Wisconsin any more! Dismissing the feeling of dread that lingered at the back of his mind, he started to make his way towards the metal gates that would lead him out of the forsaken place, only to trip over a lone bulging root and catapult head-first into the dirt.

He instinctively rubbed his now throbbing head and cursed himself for not just 'going ghost' and flying out of there. It certainly would be the easier thing to do. He willed his two white rings wash over him, secretly pleased he had enough power to do this again but they abruptly disappeared as he curiously read the name on the gravestone he had fallen in front of.

_In loving memory of a much loved daughter and friend,_

_SAMANTHA MANSON _

_Died 3__rd__ April 2005_

_Aged 15 years_

_Rest in Peace_

He stared, shaking his head forcibly back and forth as he quickly stumbled backwards away from the grave, closing his eyes, willing this to be some sick joke. Some horrible nightmare. That he'd wake up, back in Vlad's laboratory. He hadn't even noticed his whole body had started to shake when he collided with something behind him. Swiftly turning, he blinked back tears that had been building up in his eyes before hesitantly reading the epitaph of the offending grave.

_JASMINE FENTON. _

_Born 4th__ March 1988_

_Died 3__rd__ April 2005_

_Aged 17 years_

_Loved by all. May she forever rest in peace._

"No, no, no..." He repeatedly cried, his shouts crescendoing through his heart break. How had this happened?! It couldn't be them! It just couldn't! Without them he would...

_MADELAINE FENTON... JACK FENTON... TUCKER FOLEY... LARRY LANCER..._

"NO!"

Their names were everywhere! They decorated the graves, mocking him as they proudly pronounced their deaths.

He collapsed to the ground in a fit of grief, cradling his head and rocking back and forth, not thinking of anything except the epitaphs that had immediately imprinted on his brain. Nothing else was worth thinking about. This wasn't happening! He was dreaming... he would wake up at any minute, safe in his bed with his paranoid sister probably hovering over him. He had too. If he didn't he would... He would...

An excruciatingly sharp pain exploded from his chest, causing him to instinctively arch his back in pain and cry out a scream so pained it would make even the most ruthless of men come running. No one came running. No one had heard him.

Trying to bite back the pain, he risked a glimpse at his exploding chest. Deep claw marks were slowly ebbing themselves into his centre, ectoplasm and blood oozing from the unsightly gashes. In all his days ghost-hunting he had never experienced anything so agonizingly painful, even the unendurable pain he'd experienced when he'd first gained his ghost powers was struggling to compare. What was happening to him?!

Quickly looking upwards, he realised the moon had turned a deadly red and bathed the cemetery with blood. The headstones had started to ooze a deep crimson plasma as his family's names started to melt around him. The ground underneath him had started to ripple, in tune with his trembling body.

Just when he thought he couldn't take much more, the claw marks started to interconnect, etching a jagged line that ran from the top to the bottom of his torso, before pulling apart, ripping the skin as the edges repulsed each other, much like when his ghostly rings split to change his form.

His blood-curdling scream once again fell upon deaf ears before he collapsed onto his back, unable to withstand any more. He knew he was close to passing out but if he did that, he also knew he might not ever wake up. He was being killed from the inside out. Spasms choked his entire body, he didn't even have the energy left to scream. He didn't have the willpower to do anything. All he could do was give in.

His eyes snapped shut as a blinding red light exploded from the centre of the enormous gash. His body went limp just as he felt a clawing sensation, ripping against his flesh, like someone was dragging multiple razors slowly through his insides. He didn't know how he was still holding on to consciousness when he instinctively blinked open his eyes to dare to look at his mutilated body. He couldn't even recognise it any more at his. It was like he was looking at a complete stranger, a stranger who may as well have been shoved through a meat grinder.

How was he still alive?

A deep chuckle rumbled him from his thoughts. A fear more intense than he had felt in a long time gripped at his heart as he looked up to find _him_ floating a few feat in front of him.

Blood red met neon green as _he _mouthed a single word; "_inevitable."_

"DANIEL!"

Vlad, frantic with worry, shook the sweating, quivering teen in a desperate attempt to wake him. He had still been holding onto a small thread of hope that perhaps Daniel was not watching his future play out in front of him. Or perhaps he could wake him before he saw anything. That small thread had started to fray very quickly though when he saw the young boy's body start convulsing and shaking. It was very clear that Daniel was not seeing himself making out with that Latino girl.

What would happen when Daniel awoke? Vlad was pretty certain he would soon having remembered his ordeal with the orb. How does one cope with seeing their own bleak future? It was one thing for him to see it, another for Daniel. Would he fight? Would he break? Vlad could honestly say he had no idea.

Just as he was pondering what he was going to do, Daniel's eyes snapped open and locked with Vlad's own. Before Vlad could react however, Daniel had scurried away from him and backed himself into a corner, staring fearfully at... well nothing in particular actually.

The amount of emotion the billionaire saw in that teenager's eyes was unlike he had ever seen before. It was quite scary how much raw feeling was emanating from Daniel's being at that moment.

Vlad advanced upon the teen and crouched in front of him. "Daniel?" He asked carefully. "Daniel, look at me."

"GE.." Danny quickly restarted the sentence in a lower volume after a painful twinge seared his throat. He had forgotten about his throat after not feeling it at all in that alternate reality. "Get away from me!" He venomously hissed.

Vlad ignored the boy's demand and instead got closer. "What did you see Daniel?"

"I said, get away." Danny seethed, though there was no real threat behind his words. His mind was focused much more on other things.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Daniel.. I just want to know..."

"No..." Danny whispered, "You're going to turn me into him."

Vlad's heightened hearing immediately picked up what Danny had just said. Before he got the chanced to respond however Danny continued, "I'm not him... You will not turn me into him."

Vlad's eyebrows rose with what the young hybrid was saying. Turn him into him? Who? The ghost... that looked like him? Vlad started to piece it together but it still didn't make any sense. Clearly Danny was terrified of becoming this evil ghost. But why? Why would he ever consider that he'd turn into him? And why was Daniel accusing Vlad of being the catalyst so to speak?

Vlad threw his arms up in the air and finally turned from the frightened teen, exasperated. "You're not making any sense, Daniel! I appreciate you're bad at maths but I thought you did reasonably well in English!"

Turning his head and seeing the teen still rambling to himself, out of frustration at himself or Daniel, he wasn't quite sure, Vlad made his way over to the black box before firmly grasping it and thrusting it towards the young hybrid. "Blast it Daniel, what did you see after you touched this infernal thing?!"

Seeing the orb so close to him only made Danny panic more as he lunged himself to the side, away from the sphere. "Get that thing away from me!"

"No! What the hell terrifies you so much that it can reduce you to this state?! Who or what is that ghost that looks exactly like you?! What does CW mean?!"

Danny's eyes widened at the last part. He instantly recognised the initials, and Vlad noticed this too and instantly pounced on it. "What does CW mean Daniel?"

"Nothing." It was an automatic response really. He liked Clockwork, or at least he thought he did. Finding out he was somehow involved in all this really had put a spanner in the works for him. Nonetheless, he felt the less Vlad knew, the better.

At this, Vlad dropped the box, causing the orb to tumble out and flew forwards until he hovered right above the teen. He pinned his young rival to the wall by his arms and roared, "STOP LYING TO ME!"

Danny clamped his teeth down onto his bottom lip in an attempt to quell the pain that was rippling through his arms at this point. Neither had noticed the blood that had started to dribble down Danny's forearms where Vlad's nails were piercing his skin. Both were more preoccupied with holding the other's glare for as long as half-humanly possible.

Finally the elder hybrid broke the silence and demanded, "WHAT. IS. CW?"

Danny slowly broke his gaze and looked down at the ground to conceal his flash of neon green eyes. His jaw clenched, lips tightened and his breathing slowed and shallowed. He was infuriated. Infuriated at the man in front of him. He didn't think one person could evoke so much hate from him. Everything Vlad was doing threatened his promise he made his family. All these questions, the orb, Clockwork... He was trying to turn him into _him _and he had no right. NO RIGHT.

He slowly looked up again, every cell in his body consumed by fear and hate as he spat distastefully at the leering man in front of him.

"Arghh!" Vlad immediately dropped the young hybrid and reeled back in surprise and disgust at what the boy had just done as he frantically wiped at the saliva that now dripped from his cheek. Never in his life did he think he would be so humiliated! All he had done was try to help the child and he had spat in his face... literally! His anger flooded to the surface at seeing Danny make a dash for the door and without thinking, he flew after him, grabbing his ankle and making the teen face plant the floor.

"Why, you arrogant, disgusting, vile, little rat!" He thundered as he swung the boy and released him, sending him catapulting into the control panels for the ghost portal.

Not giving the young half-ghost time to recover, he advanced and slammed his fist into Danny's stomach, immediately winding him and leaving the young ghost virtually defenceless to fight back.

"Never have I met someone so ungrateful!" Vlad continued as he fired an ectoblast at the teen, the force of it resulting in Danny ricocheting away from the console behind him and collapsing on the floor in front of Vlad's feet.

"Ungrateful?" Danny managed to choke out, although the fact that he still couldn't really speak and the fact that his stomach was now burning from the amount of times Vlad had hit him, made it very difficult to do so. His last thoughts revolved around that one thought. What did Vlad mean by 'ungrateful?' Then, when he couldn't take any more of Vlad's attack, he finally felt a blackness take hold and willingly succumbed to unconsciousness.

Vlad stared motionless for a few seconds at the unconscious teen in front of him. He hadn't actually intended to batter the boy into unconsciousness but equally the amount of anger he had felt had made it hard not to do so. His fists remained clenched at his sides as he made no move to make the teenager more comfortable. He could stay there and rot for all he cared... but he did care, didn't he? At least he thought he did. No, he couldn't care. Not any more. Daniel had made his bed and he could lie in it. He couldn't help someone so ungrateful! So repulsive! No, that was it. He didn't care if he would lose his only chance at having a half-ghost son! Only he did...

The billionaire could honestly say that this was one of the rare occasions in his life where he had no idea what to do. He would never openly admit it, but he was so confused. He didn't know what he felt any more. He wanted to care for the child as a son but was this only because of his hybrid status or something more? But he already knew the answer to that one and yet half the time he wanted to kill Daniel! Okay, not kill. Brutally injure maybe. That's not how a father treats a son is it?

As Vlad started to retreat from the lab, he couldn't stop himself from looking back over his shoulder at the teen's bruised body. A sad smile ghosted his lips, though he quickly shook his head and with it shook of all of his previous thoughts. He would have to sleep on it but for now, quite frankly, he was exhausted, physically and emotionally.

Sweeping out the room he couldn't help but think about his one weakness. He was sure Daniel was going to be the end of him some day.

* * *

The first thing Danny noticed when he woke was how dark and still everything was, which was a funny thing to notice when one had just been unconscious. As he blinked his eyes open, he registered a dull banging from the back of his skull and as he tried to sit, the rest of his limbs joined in until his whole body was melodically thumping in harmony.

Stifling a groan, he pressed his hand against his forehead in an attempt to numb his headache before he realised that he couldn't see a thing. It was one of those occasions where he was grateful to be half-ghost as his now neon green eyes now scanned the laboratory effortlessly. After establishing that Vlad was no longer in the room, he staggered to his feet in an attempt to stand and after stumbling backwards a few feet, was grateful when he collided with a console behind him.

Automatically, his gaze drifted over to the clock, his eyes widening as he realised it read fourteen minutes past three. He guessed it must be quarter past three at night due to the quietness of the house... mansion. And that would mean he must have been out for... about four hours..ish. So not too bad, considering.

What he was surprised at though was how he'd woken up without shackles around his wrists and ankles... and without Vlad chuckling in the background. Where was he anyway? Plotting revenge? Sleeping? The former seemed the most likely. He had been pretty angry, not that this amazed Danny or anything. He had spat in the man's face after all. He smiled, the thought of doing this secretly making him rather happy. However, his gleeful expression quickly disappeared after remembering something else the billionaire had said to him before beating him into unconsciousness.

"_Never have I met someone so ungrateful!"_

What did he mean by ungrateful? Danny hadn't been ungrateful, had he? Sure he hadn't been particularly happy but it was to be expected considering the circumstances. What did Vlad want him to say?! 'Thank you so much for kidnapping me and attempting to turn me into my evil self!'? Danny rolled his eyes. He never would understand Vlad, so why even bother?

His breathing hitched as the last thought suddenly hit him. Vlad was trying to turn him into his evil self and he was certain of it. Why else would he have asked him all these questions... trapped him in this mansion... Why else would that orb thing show him _that?_ His eyes drifted over to said sphere which now sat carelessly on the floor a few metres away. He was sure they would have popped out of their sockets when he noticed CW on the side. There was no doubt about it now, he would recognise Clockwork's insignia anywhere. Clockwork was involved somehow... which would probably explain why he hadn't been any help as of late. He wanted to trust his mentor, he really did but when Clockwork pulled a stunt like this he did have to consider whether his faith in the time master was well placed. He did know one thing though. Clockwork had some serious explaining to do when Danny next saw him.

The young ghost started to stumble across the space as he decided he didn't want to look at the orb any longer. He had to get out of here and now he supposed his evil self was involved made the need even more desperate.

When he reached the door, it was as he suspected; locked. Any attempts to phase through it were useless and a quick analysis confirmed that there was no handle on this side, no lock to pick.

Danny rolled his eyes as he muttered, "Paranoid Fruit Loop."

What was this guy's deal with locking him in rooms? Another quick scan of the room told him that there were no other doors, no other ways to leave, so that left... the ghost portal. But of course the billionaire had said he'd locked it.

Danny took a deep breath as he tried to quell the panic that started to build. He couldn't break down. Not now. Looking the portal up and down, he shuffled over to control console in an attempt to open it when he noticed something. It was damaged. He must have been thrown against it with some force... The teen knew this could only work in his favour but he had yet to figure out how. That is until he noticed one of the normally lit wires that ran between the console and portal looked like it was no longer active. That must mean that something was no longer working and he could only hope it was whatever was keeping the doors to the portal sealed shut.

Experience told him that the doors were phase-proof so to speak and that meant that to get to the swirling green vortex behind them, one either had to type in the password which after having no luck with 'Maddie Masters' he had no idea what it would be, or open the doors manually. The latter would normally be an impossibility, even with super-human strength one would never be able to budge steel doors sealed shut by a machine... but if the machine operating them was damaged...

Danny knew he was strong courtesy of his ghost fight career but was he strong enough to force the doors? Only one way to find out he supposed...

He took up a strong position in front of the doors and forced the tips of his fingers into the crack before pouring every bit of his ghost strength into opening them. Beads of sweat started to form on his forehead, his breathing laboured and vision blurred but he kept focused on the doors.

He kept this up for a couple of minutes until he heard a loud groaning sound and the fact that his whole hands were now able to slip in between the crack confirmed that it was indeed working! He only stopped to catch his breath for a couple of seconds before he started again. Vlad might have heard the loud groan the doors gave and Danny was not about to take any chances.

He could now see the green glow of the portal behind the doors but he didn't dare stop until he had created a big enough gap for himself to squeeze through. Grunting and panting for what seemed like an eternity, Danny felt like he was just about ready to give in but that one word that kept going round in his head forced him to continue with his efforts. He would prove that it was not _inevitable. _

Finally, he had felt as though he had opened the doors just wide enough for his slight frame to fit through. Withdrawing his hands, he turned to his side, breathed in, though he knew this would hardly help, and commenced to side step through the doors until he virtually fell into the ghost zone on the other side.

* * *

**Author's Note**

So there ya have it, no cliff hanger this time - no need to thank me :L. And you might be pleased to know that our character who must not be named (no it's not Voldemort) will be introduced, not next chapter but probably the one after that :).

Anyway, I would like to reply to your amazing reviews!

Ruby 1334: Haha, thank you and you're welcome! And look, no cliff hanger! Everything will definitely explained but it might not be for a while - don't hurt me lol!

Jaddis: Sorry! I stopped on this one! Yep, Vlad's definitely a bit fruitloopy but I wouldn't have him any other way!

Sunnyday23: Nope, not at all! Poor little Danny.. :P. Thank you!

History 101: Lol sorry! I really need to stop cliff hangers - don't want to upset anyone! Thank you though!

Lioness Deity: Oops! That's a bit bad of me lol - I really need to catch up on Desiree episodes! I seem to have only watched Vlad ones for a while now XD.

The Summer Stars: Aww thank you! That makes me really happy to hear someone say that :').

SailorSea: Yep - I have to agree there! ... On both parts! No fear - Danny isn't out of the woods yet!

Until next time!


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